Monster Hunter Soul
by indigorhob
Summary: When a strange phenomenon caused the monsters from the recent Monster Hunter games to appear in the real world, three brothers find themselves among the individuals capable of merging with their in-game characters and using their skills and weapons to fight back. Rated M for potential violence,swearing, and mild sexual content/suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1 :A Shocking Beginning

Chapter 1: A Shocking Beginning

The mall was unnecessarily crowded that day, which was weird since it was what I considered a 'dead day' or basically those times in weekdays where people are less likely to go the mall. There was no occasion nor is it a weekend whatsoever, and yet the amount of people loitering around is simply sickening.

I knew I should have just stayed at home and enjoy the peace and quiet of a simple life.

"But wasn't this your idea?" My sister asked, walking beside me with the most furious looking crease on her forehead. Her eyebrows were so close to each other, I should've known that she'd hate this situation more than I did. It's not that she's Enochlophobic, she simply hates people.

True, it was kind of my idea. My cousins and I have been avid fans of the Monster Hunter videogames, especially when the slightly more user-friendly games where released on the 3DS. We've loved playing together and rarely do any Gathering Hall/Elder Hall missions alone.

Basically we loved to co-op. Thanks to the online features of MH4U, Xavier, Char, and I would've had no problem playing together even though we lived quite far from one another.

Actually, Char and I live just across each other but Xavier's house is quite a whole city away.

No problem, since we could just hop on online and play right?

Wrong. Our internet connections all suck. Let's just leave it at that.

If we were lucky, we'd be able to finish a quest without suddenly disappearing from the fight. On most days, that's a big if.

So what was our compromise? We decided to occasionally meet and do local co-op more often.

Today was one of those days. Usually Xavier would ask his Dad to drive him over to our house so we could play, but today his Dad was unavailable so we decided to use our favorite mall to meet up and play wherever was nearby. Said mall was practically always our meeting place, being close to all of us and worked like some kind of middle-point.

Had I known that the mall was an Enochlophobe's nightmare right now, I'd have chosen a different meeting place.

"Can we get something to eat?" Char asked. We've been waiting for Xavier for a while and I have a tendency to arrive at least a whole hour before the scheduled meeting time. Since both Char and my sister decided to commute with me, they had no choice but to be early as well.

"Why, are you gonna pay for it?" I replied with a grin. In my mind I was already strategizing whether a burger or taco would be a better choice, and then I'll probably accompany either with a milk tea.

"What?!" He snapped with a raised eyebrow. "You're the one with a salary."

Right. Being the eldest at 22, I was the only one who was working out of the three of us. Char, 16, was still in highschool. Xavier's a freshman and I think he's around 13 or something. My sister, Frank(short for Franky but she prefers Frank), was just a year older than Char and currently an art major at a nearby university.

With a sigh, I led them to the closest fast food, opting for a cheeseburger and ice tea instead. Even though I was paying, Char still chose the cheapest option while Frank just ordered the same thing I did.

"Xavier just texted," Char spoke up after finishing his mini burger. Before he can continue I already saw what looked like our youngest cousin from afar. Slightly small for his age, you'd think an eight year old was making his way to us. His outfit though, with his red long sleeved shirt (it has an arc reactor design printed at the chest), jeans, and a gray jacket tied at his waist was more or less age-appropriate (I think). "He says he'll just meet us here."

"There he is," I replied, taking note of Char's outfit as well. He was the most basic out of all of us, wearing a simple black shirt with 'Unite' written in red on the front and black denim pants.

"'Bout time," Frank smirked. She was wearing a white muscle shirt with a negative image of Liberty Leading The People, and denim shorts that reached past her knees (short pants or long shorts?).

"So, where do you wanna chill?" I asked. Slightly proud of my outfit, I took notice of my custom collared shirt; It was basically all gray, but an anime-chibi-version of me was printed by the breastpocket. My cargo pants were the kind with plenty of both real and fake pockets, strategically selected in order to confuse any potential pickpockets. Whereas my cousins and my sister wore your typical trendy sneakers, I managed to find the light-up kind that was tailored for adults. I've wanted one of those since I was 5 years old, and when I found out that I could have one custom made I jumped at the chance.

We all settled for a nearby café, especially since it was right next to a bookstore which my sister can use while the three of us were busy hunting.

Regardless of all the people around us, we all walked with enthusiasm, hoping to make the most of this day.

If only we didn't end up fighting for our lives later on.

* * *

"So there was this guy I _onlined_ with," Xavier spoke up as we sat down. Frank was already browsing at the bookstore. "He looked like a noob at first glance, with a simple username as 'Oscar C'. Turns out, he was complete bad-ass with an SnS."

"Don't judge a book, am I right?" Char chuckled. "Besides, not everyone wants to name their character using awesome-sounding words like Saber."

"Heck, my name in Freedom Unite was Mamasita," I smirked.

After a couple of bickering and laughing at one another's crappy jokes, we finally managed to make a room and settle down. For reference's sake, I decided to take note of our characters and stats.

 **Char's Character** :

 _Name: Relena_

 _Gender in-game: Female_

 _Weapon: Charge Blade (Rathflame Ubernova)_

 _Armor Set: Rathian X_

 _Preferred Role : Tank_

 **Xavier's Character** :

 _Name : Saber_

 _Gender in-game: Male_

 _Weapon: Dual Blades (The Wrackful Gemini)_

 _Armor Set: Regios X_

 _Preferred Role: Speedy Berserker_

 **Indigo's Character** (dat me):

 _Name: Dirge_

 _Gender in-game: Male_

 _Weapon: Hunting Horn (Hunter Master)_

 _Armor Set: Tigrex Z_

 _Preferred Role: Support/Self-proclaimed Leader_

"You guys ready?" Xavier asked, holding his 2DS. Speaking of which, I just find it quite adorable that the youngest of us has a 2DS, Char has a 3DSXL, while I had the New 3DSXL. It was quite fitting in my opinion. "Ready, Indi-bro, Charmander?"

"Don't call us that." Char and I said in unison.

"Or at least call me Charizard." Char follow-ed up before we started our quest.

The guild's horn sounded and we charged into the fray to hunt some lesser gods.

At least, that's what we would've done, had all the lights and electronics around us not shut down in an instant. The interior of the mall was bathed in darkness, with only a little sunlight to illuminate the area. It seemed like an EMP wave at first glance, since even cellular phones and our DS are all blacked-out.

I told my cousins to stay put while I checked on Frank. I felt my way through and hoped I don't hit any other person as I stumbled through the barely-lit area around me.

"Franky?!" I called out, worried she had left the library without telling me.

"I told you, I prefer Frank, Indie." I heard a voice beside me. It seems she had the same idea of checking on me when all the electronics went out. Her rebuttal was well received, as I also hated being called Indie. I'm not an archeologist and I don't have a whip.

Before we could even make it back to the café, the lights all went back on. My 3DS turned back on, the startup screen flickering like a disturbing glitch. I hoped the EMP wave didn't mess with my gadgets as I checked if my little baby was completely okay.

Char and Xavier were doing the same with their DS. Thankfully besides the weird glitching at the start-up screen there doesn't seem to be any internal damage.

"Well that was weird," was all I could say, and sat down to play.

And then the screams began.

* * *

Before Indigo could even bother sitting down to play again, screams started coming from the skating rink area near us. The three boys I was with stood up with a snap, and without even talking we all ran towards the source of the noise.

People were running away from something by the skating rink. Before we even got swallowed by the chaos Indigo managed to lead us to a nearby empty store so we wouldn't get hit by the rushing, panicking, crowd. When only a brave few was left to check what exactly is going on, we cautiously walked out of the store and looked with heavy breathing as to what caused the pandemonium.

On the ice skating rink itself was…something. I couldn't quite describe it yet but it was repulsive.

It looked like a huge skinless chicken, but instead of the usual chicken-y parts…well. Let's just say that its head looked kind of like a penis, but with teeth. It's skin looks incredibly pale and leathery.

"Dudes, is that A FUCKING KHEZU?!" Xavier shouted with hands on his head like it just got blown.

Figures, that kid's been playing those Monster Hunter games too much they see it in everything. You have no idea how much they talk about that game when they're together, if things haven't gone to shit like they just did, I'd still be in the bookstore.

"It kinda does look like a Khezu…" Seriously Indigo? You too?

"Yea, it really does, huh…" Cher mumbled.

"Seriously, guys," I grimaced, "We have a weird creature on the skating rink and all you can think about is that stupid game?"

 **UAAAAAAAAAAUUUGHHHH!**

The scream was so piercing we had to cover our ears and honestly cower in fear. The sound was so high-pitched it was practically a banshee's wail. Indigo tried to cover me as the glasses in the nearby stores all shattered around us.

Thankfully, none of us seem to have gotten hurt.

"Yep," Indigo spoke up again after the painful scream ended. Some of the leftover people a while ago had already started running away as well. "That's definitely a Khezu."

" .FUCK." was all Cher could say. Xavier was unusually speechless for once.

The three of them were busy staring at the creature, as big as a bus. It was smelling the air around, possibly looking for prey. It turned around in the rink and what we saw made our bloods run cold. Or should I say, colder.

There was a little girl stuck inside the rink, struggling her best to stand up while holding on to the railings. The "khezu" creature was blocking her way to the exit unknowingly. We were all thinking the same thing.

It was only a matter of time before the big penis-chicken notices the kid. Whatever it does next is something we wouldn't want to think about yet.

The kid's family was nowhere to be found, unless she went to the mall on her own she was either abandoned or forgotten. Both ideas were not nice.

"Should we call the police or some-" I started but was cut off short as Indigo rushed towards the rink.

Great, now my big brother wants to be a hero.

He seems to forget that heroes tend to get killed.

* * *

"Get back here! You don't even know how to skate!" I heard Frank shouting at me from afar. I could approximately give zero fucks as I rushed in and felt the slippery ice my feet were on.

I immediately regret this decision.

Nonetheless, I couldn't let a little girl get eaten by a Khezu right now. Why there's a real life Khezu is a question I plan on worrying about once we get out of here alive.

I felt my pockets up for something I can use, and found some loose change. Khezus are, if I'm not mistaken, sensitive to sound since they have no eyes. I threw my coins away from me in hopes to distract the large monster.

It raised its elongated head as it heard the _clink_ sound my coins made. It started lumbering towards the coins and away from the girl.

Keeping myself steady, which requires 110% of my effort, I held on the rails and started 'sliding' towards the kid. She saw me and started sliding my way, too, and as much as I want to gloat and smile at the idea that I was her hero…

The kid's eyes widened as I looked back to see the Khezu turning back towards us. With a thousand prayers in my head I put a finger on my lips and reached my other hand out.

She reached for my hand and-

 **UAAAAAAAAAAUUUGHHHH!**

We both covered our ears and I realized that the Khezu must've noticed us somehow. Out of panic my feet lost control and I felt myself falling down on my butt.

I managed to stand up and hold on the railings, but I heard the crackle of electricity and saw that the Khezu was preparing for an electric wave. Its mouth was bursting with electricity and I knew that we only have a second or two before it fires a wave of electricity on the ground.

If that doesn't kill us, it will definitely paralyze us. I couldn't let that happen.

I reached for the girl…

And felt a painful surge of shock.

The whole world felt like it was in slow motion, and it was as if my feet were on live wires. The shock wave rippling through my legs and towards my torso. I must have been shaking, but I couldn't feel it exactly.

I lost control on my whole body, with nothing else to do but watch the horror on the little girl's face as I fell down on the ice.

Ugh, I hope I didn't accidentally crush my 3DS in my pocket.

* * *

"Fuck!" I ran towards the rink, Xavier and Char in tow. I looked at both of them and saw the fear in their eyes. Now that the only adult in our group is the one that needs help, we felt like helpless children.

I had to take control, I was the second eldest after all. These boys won't stand a chance without me.

"Xavier," I pulled him closer, "You've been skating since you were 5 right?"

He nodded.

"Keep that thing distracted," I continued, trying to keep a cool head. "Char…"

"I just learned how to skate last month," he replied, "But I can do it, I think."

"Alright, you get the kid," I said to him, "I'll drag my worthless brother out of there."

I looked towards the rink and saw that the Khezu-thingy was gone. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but…

Something's not right.

* * *

I finally felt all my nerves start working again. I started getting up as I saw Char, Xavier, and Frank heading my way. Char took the little girl's hand while Frank and Xavier helped me up.

"You ok, dude?" Xavier asked, it was the first time I saw him look genuinely terrified. Heck, even I'm surprised I didn't shit my pants.

"It's gone, but we should still get out of here," Frank whispered. "I've got a bad feeling."

So did I. I rummaged through my thoughts and decided to look up.

I was right. The Khezu was crawling around on the ceiling, waiting for the perfect moment to prey on us.

"When I say go," I whispered, "Get out of here as fast as you can."

"We can't leave you," Frank answered, "We all know you can't do jack-squat on ice."

"I'll figure something out."

But we were too late, before we could even move the Khezu dive bombed right down on us. The blow from of its fall blew us apart from one another, sending us sliding towards different directions in the rink.

I felt another surge of pain as I collided with the wall, knocking the breath out my lungs. Gasping for air, I struggled to stand up and felt a strange warmth in my pockets.

I put my hands on my 3DS, convinced that it's probably broken by now. Out of habit, I took it out and flipped it open.

Not only was it intact, it's upper screen was displaying my character, the dark brown scales of my Tigrex armor shimmering to what looks like a glitch. I looked at my character again, Dirge.

Dirge, named after the kind of songs that were meant for laments and funerals, the idea being that everytime I played a hunting horn recital I was playing music for a monster's future death. I couldn't help but smile as I touched the screen, almost feeling my character inside it.

This is it, I thought. I was going to die with a game console on my hands and it felt fitting.

Meanwhile, Dirge just stared at me, and it looked like he was-no, the whole 3DS was glowing.

Huh, maybe I'm already dead.

* * *

I stood up with an aching body and tried to shield my eyes from a sudden flash of light. I saw that Xavier was unconscious while Char was helping the little girl up again. The Khezu-thingy was walking towards someone else…

Where's Indigo?

* * *

The flash of light would've been blinding, but I was wearing a…helmet? The clothes I had on a while ago felt different and the weight I carry seems to have changed. I looked at my arms and saw that I was wearing gauntlets, looking awfully familiar with…

Wait,what?

I felt the strange and heavy object on my back. The steel handle felt like a rod but on top of it was…

A drum with a smiling face on it. I held the heavy weapon in both hands, finally understanding what it was.

I unsheathed my Hunter Master hunting horn as properly as I could, and swung at the Khezu in front of me.

The blow connected with a satisfying thud, accompanied by that sudden cymbal-like sound when you hit a monster's face with an impact weapon.

The Khezu flinched and took a step back. At the corner of my eye I saw what looked like my note staff, with a single blue note adorning it.

I walked closer to the Khezu, noting how unbearably heavy my weapon was. If I could just…

I slammed downwards with my hunting horn. I managed to hit a part of it's body with a THWACK and I couldn't help but smile. A violet note now floated next to the blue one in my staff.

I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but here I am swinging my hunting horn around like my body knows how to use it properly. I prepared to swing another violet-note attack, knowing that I'll need them to apply the Movement Speed increase boost. Provided that this hunting horn works the same way in real life.

I failed to notice that the Khezu had been preparing for a shock attack, and was blown away by a strong jolt of electricity before I could even move my horn. It hurt a lot, but still far less than I expected, which was probably because of my armor.

I managed to land on my feet and stand up easily, unsheathing my weapon to run closer to my enemy. An unsheathe attack followed by a recital should give me the boost I need to stay alive.

I sprinted towards the Khezu and prepared to attack.

It's neck stretched and its mouth went straight for me, an attack I failed to avoid.

It barely hurt, but the attack was so sudden that my vision started getting unsteady. It was a dizzying feeling, I couldn't even move.

I was stunned.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" I shouted at no one in particular, absolutely confused. Why were there tiny stars circling around Indigo's head?

I mean, I have no proof that it was my brother, but still it was the most likely conclusion.

I looked over to where Char was, but saw only the kid. The little girl was looking at something, and I followed her gaze.

There was a woman in a beautifully jade-ish battle armor, like a steel dress made from a dragon of sorts. She was running towards my brother with a large dark-silver, spiky shield on her back. This doesn't seem to limit her whatsoever as she easily managed to get to Indigo and kicked him back to sanity, the stars disappearing instantly.

Side-by-side, they both unsheathed their weapons. Indigo's looks like a huge festival drum shaped into a mace-like weapon. While the woman had her gigantic shield and an equally large sword.

I have no idea what was going on at all, but I at least know that we have a chance at surviving this predicament now, provided those two don't get themselves killed.

They rushed towards the monster, and then split up around in what seemed like a pincer-formation attack. The monster faced towards the woman, who started attacking its face with her sword. Indigo slammed his mace drum on the Khezu-thingy's large body, which made it turn around towards him.

The two started circling the enemy again, before attacking alternatively, mostly targeting the monster's face.

Looking almost pissed off, the dick-chicken started pivoting forcefully, sending Indigo flying backwards while warrior princess managed to block it with her shield.

During all that time I was able to get the kid and we slowly made our way towards the exit, hoping the monster was busy enough with those two to notice us.

The exit itself was on a slightly elevated platform, and as the kid and I got out we saw another person in armor waiting for us by the exit.

His armor was practically golden, seemingly made of smooth but steel-like scales smoothly outlining the outfit. In his hands he held two circular black blades, considerably tiny compared to the ones being used by the two a while ago. His helmet was very medieval knight in design, and he just nodded at me as the kid and I ran towards a considerably safer area.

We just got farther from the rink when I saw that the Khezu had inched closer to the exit, while knight-guy was sprinting towards him. As he got close, he stopped and raised his blades in the air, generating what looked like some kind of aura around him.

He then jumped off the elevation and spun inhumanly fast in the air towards the Khezu. It was like watching the blades of a helicopter in flight spinning to cut the enemy.

The monster fell down, but managed to get back up almost instantly. To my surprise, it was just standing, drooling. Knight-guy was sitting on top of it, stabbing furiously.

The security personnel finally arrived as the monster fell down again, writhing helplessly on the ground as the three armored individuals started attacking it like there was no tomorrow.

Warrior-princess somehow combined her sword and shield to transform it into a huge blade, summoning a powerful lightning-like strike on the Khezu.

After an attack, Indigo started swinging his weapon strangely, like he was playing with it. The smiley drum started blinking then all three of them suddenly had a burst of aura emanating from their bodies.

Knight-guy was just spinning and attacking in a flurry of strikes. My eyes could hardly keep up with the speed of his slashes.

The kid's parents finally arrived, and I honestly wanted to ask them why they would leave their kid alone in the first place. Apparently they allowed to skate by herself while they were shopping, I doubt they'd let her do that again, though.

The security personnel were all dumbstruck by what they were seeing, none of them were moving.

And then, just as soon as it had arrived, the Khezu collapsed on the cold icy floor of the rink. It was finally dead, and the three armored individuals were crouching next to it, their tiny knives cutting into its dead flesh.

Were they taking souvenirs from its body parts or something?

* * *

"Dude, we can actually carve it, what the fuck," Saber exclaimed, it was Xavier's character but it was clearly him inside that body somehow.

"I wonder if we could sell this for real money," Relena grinned, with a female voice and a female body but it was Char and we all knew it.

I stood up and saw all the security guards slowly making their way towards us.

I looked at the confused and worried look at my sister's face, and I tried to wrap my head around what just happened.

We just fought a real Khezu, with real Monster Hunter weapons and armors. Heck, we were in the body of our MH4U characters.

And as the three of us went out of the rink, with some of the people around clapping, while others just looked at us suspiciously, I only had one thing on my mind.

 _ **What now?**_


	2. Chapter 2 :Of Men and Monsters

**Chapter 2: Of Men and Monsters**

"Wait, I'M A GIRL?!" Relena screamed. We were already out of the mall at that time. It was a good thing that Xavie-no, Saber brought some smoke bombs. We all decided that until we have at least 20% of an idea with what's going on, it was best to just stay anonymous. To anyone who didn't see us fight a Khezu, we were simply cosplayers on our way home.

"Your character," I replied, testing the weight of my armor while walking around. It was easy to tell that this isn't basic clothing, but it wasn't as heavy as I previously imagined it might be. "We somehow merged or used our characters in-game, so of course you're a girl."

"Why'd you even choose a girl for your character anyway?" Saber asked, playing with his dual blades.

"'Cause he's a perv," Frank replied, staying away from Saber. "Hey! You could hurt someone with that!"

"I'm not a perv!" Relena replied, her big metallic skirt swishing around like an adorable piece of debris. "It was a deal me and Indigo made, we always choose opposite genders in videogames like Monster Hunter and Pokemon XY. That way, we could both see the armor or outfit styles for both when we play."

"Yup," I said with a grin, "I was a girl and he was a guy in MH3U, so we switched for MH4U."

"Oh I see," Frank continued, inspecting the Hunting Horn on my back. "So you're both pervs."

* * *

We finally got home safe, sound, and without any unnecessary attention from anyone else. While walking a while ago, Xavier claimed that he 'found' an item called 'DEQUIP'. Using an item while you're in hunter form is surprisingly easy, all you need was to imagine holding your DS and feel the L and other buttons you need to cycle and use your items. When they activated it, they were all back to the less-awesome brothers that I knew.

"I thought the Dequip item would remove our armors," Indigo said when we got home.

"Yeah then we'd be naked," Xavier replied. He was to stay with us until his Dad picks him up tonight.

"You'd like that won't you?" Char said with a smirk as he pretends to be Relena, making his worst versions of sexy poses.

I resisted the urge to facepalm myself or slap those boys out of their pointless humor. I just did what I did best and opened up my laptop to surf the net.

For all we know, we might get information on what's going on.

* * *

"Guys, check this out." Frank spoke up in front of her laptop. The three of us guys were busy trying to figure out if anything else happened to our DS. Char figured out that simply holding the 3DS with our character selected, then focusing on said character allows us to 'summon' them in battle. It was pretty cool but only seemed to work with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, the older game nor any other game like Pokemon or Animal Crossing didn't work.

We huddled by Frank's laptop and saw news clipping and articles about the "Strange Creatures that Came Out of Nowhere" as well as "Armored Individuals popping up around the world".

Simply put, it wasn't just us. It wasn't just in the mall.

Monsters are showing up everywhere, and so are Hunters.

What a time to be alive.

* * *

"You guys knows what this means right?" Char grinned. He had that look in his eyes that pretty much means ' _ **we can profit from this**_ ' , just like that time he started making custom Gunplas and sold them off on the net. Very few people appreciated his designs and his business became null and void after a month. "Think about it, the game itself is all about taking on requests to hunt or capture or whatever, right? We can take requests from people and get paid. HUNTERS 4 HIRE!"

"People are already doing it," Frank replied nonchalantly, shooting down Char's enthusiasm with ease. She faced the screen towards us and saw a website that takes request for "Xpert Monster Slaying Mercenaries".

"It's been two fucking hours!" Char sighed.

"For all we know the 'EMP-ish' wave hit us late." I said, speculating that we were just leftovers from this event. I noticed their base service fee and almost swore, "Look at their prices man. Even rich people are gonna have a hard time affording that."

"Fucking mercs," Xavier mumbled. "Now what do we do?"

Frank alt-tabbed and showed us a blog she was making. She designed it as bad-ass and Monster Huntery as she could and looks like it was designed to take requests as well.

"I'm that good," She said, "We can still take requests. These other assholes are from other countries, no one's offering in ours yet. We just have to be the first and a lot of people should notice us."

I couldn't help but smile, of course she'd see this opportunity before Char even could. She may be an art major, but when it comes to money…

"All we have to do is be a hell lot cheaper than those mercenaries," she continued.

"But killing monsters are hard!" Char exclaimed.

"Read my mind again, Frank," I rebutted, acting like it was also my idea, I was a business administration graduate after all. Frank looked at me with eyes so dead it was obvious to her that I was just pretending to be clever…again. "We're more likely to get requests if we're affordable, then we can worry about increasing our fees once were well-known."

"Of course," she added, with a glimmer in her eye, "We're going to split the cash. I should get more than 50% since I'm the one who's gonna get the requests."

"Ehhhhhh…." The three of us said in unison, "…no."

* * *

 _ **It's been years since we put up our request blog, alas, no one deemed us fit to be hired for their woes. The world moved on, the military failed to adapt to the new enemies, and pretty soon only the well known hunters were the ones on the battlefield. Buildings were abandoned, lives were destroyed, and mother nature continued to kick-ass regardless of the individuals who wore beastly armors-**_

"Stop acting like a storyteller, jerk," I snapped Indigo out of his narrative, "It's only been two days."

"It felt like years," he replied, acting like he's in a trance.

"This shit ain't instant, kid," I sat down and booted my laptop again. With fingers crossed, my brother and I checked if anyone sent any requests whatsoever. Even after everything that's happened, the world around us still felt peaceful and strangely enough our city was hardly affected by the arrival of monsters.

Who knows, maybe the really violent ones haven't shown up yet.

We both smiled and I'm pretty sure Indigo just fisted the air with an audible 'YES!' when we saw a notification from our blog. That little message icon looked so appealing to us, with promise of fame, glory, and of course a lot of moola awaiting us.

"It's some kind of college professor," I said, reading the request and trying not to sound too disappointed, "He just needs some escort while he transports some monster eggs for research."

"Well, it's better than nothing." Indigo sighed.

* * *

I tried my best to look motivated, I've always hated those escort/bodyguard quests in any videogame I play. Even with my protective instincts, I guess I hate the pressure of actually having to kill monsters while keeping an absolute civilian safe.

We've arranged to meet the professor by the train station he takes to his office, notifying the other guys to just meet me there as well. We all arrived together and had just finished changing to our Hunters just as a stereotypical researcher-looking arrived, he was wearing a labcoat and the usual things you see on professors in anime. In his hand he held a large and bulky briefcase, which I assumed was where the eggs were.

"Here let me help," I extended my hand to hold the briefcase.

"No!" He shouted, hugging the briefcase. He must really care about his eggs, huh. "Please, all you need is to keep me, and my eggs, safe from harm."

"Are those,like, herbivore eggs?" Saber asked, his voice was miraculously not being muffled by his helmet. "Why would you need protection?"

"P-poachers, and thieves!" He replied, looking shaken. He was sweating profusely and the glasses he was wearing was fogged, making him look even more like an anime character. "Who knows what kind of evil might bring danger to my eggs?!"

Of all the fucking jobs to get.

* * *

I haven't exactly described the country I was in, but let's just say that train rides are a hassle. Note that these are not underground railway systems, but the kind of railways that are built alongside slightly higher than the highways. We were all squeezed in with the bulk of commuters in the train, and I felt sorry for anyone who my armor might've made uncomfortable.

I looked out the window and saw nothing but buildings and skyscrapers-in-making, the road below us full of cars with pissed off drivers, honking their horns like it would make the heavy traffic disappear.

Meanwhile, our 'job' just sat quietly in his seat, clutching his egg-briefcase like his life(or his _eggs)_ depended on it.

I heard Relena sigh as the three of us realize how mundane and boring our first job is. Oh well, you have to start somewhere.

I turned around and saw a little girl, possibly around 10 years old, looking cautiously at me. She had a face that looked either Chinese or Japanese, like that Jason Statham's love interest in the movie Safe.

No, wait, that kid wasn't his love interest.

Her skin was fair, nearly pale in a way that she could easily pass off as a porcelain doll, even more so with straight black hair reaching up to her waist. She wore a cute little black dress that reached down to her knees, where her black socks then connect to a pair of black doll shoes. Honestly, she looked like a ghost, especially with the way she stared at me. So much blackness.

 _No need to be scared of me sweetie_ , I thought. _I just saved someone even younger than you a couple days ago._

I mean sure, I pretty much got my ass kicked and barely got out alive, but still. Nice to think of yourself as a superhero don't you think?

"Can you hear that?" The little girl asked, her eyes serious even as she scans her surroundings.

"Were you…" I asked, inching closer and kneeling to her eye level, "…talking to me?"

Before I could even wait for an answer, the train made a stop at a station and the girl walked out along the other people. Just when I thought that I had seen the last of her, she turned around and looked me in the eye.

"Mommy and Daddy are coming…" she said with such an adorable but serious voice I was honestly creeped out.

What the fuck? Why am I suddenly in a horror story?

"Dude," Saber spoke up and I nearly jumped in surprise. "Was that kid talking to you?"

"What the hell did you do now?" Relena snickered.

Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one who can see her. But I wondered, with a strange feeling of dread, what could she possibly mean by what she said?

She was alone when she got off, maybe her parents will pick her up. Or maybe I'll see a woman and a man by the foot of my bed as I go to sleep tonight. Seriously,though…

Mommy and Daddy are coming?

* * *

We were halfway to our destination when I heard something strange, I could almost swear it sounded like the roar of a monster. Meanwhile, Dirge and Saber were just chatting around. I looked at my body and honestly considered touching my boobs just to see if they were real.

Oh what the heck, they're just boobs. I'm a gentleman, or in this case a gentlewoman. Besides, it's not like I'll feel much through the all this armor. Maybe if I equipped a Kirin armor or a Rebellion X armor or something.

I looked back at Dirge who looked positively shaken after seeing that creepy kid a while ago, even under all that armor you can tell he was uneasy. We were, almost there, we had nothing to worry about.

Another roar echoed around us, this one sounding closer.

"What's that sound?" Saber asked, looking around. He started walking towards the end of the train since there were less people now. "Was that a monster?"

 **GHHR-**

That sound, like an inhale-

 **GRAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!**

I covered my ears as the windows around us shook but thankfully didn't shatter, the whole train felt the vibration and a lot of us standing were losing our balance. Dirge was unaffected and was beginning to move towards the source of the sound, seemingly contemplating. He looked like he just learned something when…

 **RHGHH-**

Oh shit, another one?!

 **HRAAAAUUGHHHHH!**

I found myself cowering in fear again, wondering why this one sounded different. Saber and I finished shaking, and only then did I notice that the windows have completely shattered now.

"Everyone stay down!" Dirge shouted at whoever was listening. He looked menacingly at the researcher we were supposed to be protecting, "Especially you."

"What's going on?" I asked, trying not to sound too scared by having two monsters nearby. And on a moving train too.

"This asshole is carrying Wyvern Eggs…" Dirge snapped at the trembling researcher guy, "…and now…"

He started climbing out an open window, struggling to fit with his hunting horn on his back. He looked back at us and said:

"…Mommy and Daddy are coming."

* * *

I somehow managed to climb up the roof of a moving train without falling. How do people like Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves make it look so easy?

Shaking and trying to stay steady from the velocity, which was thankfully not that fast since this wasn't a bullet train, I started running towards the edge of the train.

"Try to keep people away from the last car," I spoke up. Somehow, I don't know how, we could hear each other even when were afar. This must be the chat system, I thought. "I'll keep them busy."

I looked around; buildings, cars, billboards… there! A green-scaled wyvern was flying straight for me. I unsheathed my Hunter Master and prepared to attack.

I felt a sudden burst of pain as something collided with me from my left. A red blur was all I saw as I felt my self being thrown away from the train.

Out of pure instinct, I took my knife out and stabbed it at the red blur in front of me. Deep inside I hoped I didn't accidentally hit The Flash.

 _Ha ha,_ I thought, noting that no one was around to hear my joke.

The knife connected and stuck at its thigh. I was now hanging on a Rathalos' leg, and boy does it look pissed off. It started flying vigorously above the highway, intent on shaking me off. I prayed that Relena and Saber would be enough to stop the Rathian on the train. Then again, I was in more trouble right now.

I looked up at the Rathalos trying to get rid of me, looked down to the speeding vehicles ready to hit me if I fall. With a wince, I held tighter and started climbing the Rathalos, making it even more violent.

Let's do this, old man.

* * *

I could only look in shock and horror as I saw a Rathalos fly away with Dirge on its leg. I heard a shriek of metal and looked up to see talons digging through the train's roof. I readied my charge blade and told Saber to get ready as well.

"Hey Saber," I grinned, changing my sword and shield mode to an axe mode. "Let's do _**that**_."

He nodded, activated his demon mode, and just in time as the Rathian tore the roof of our train Saber ran towards me.

 _We only get one shot at this_ , I thought, but shook it off as I swung my Charge Axe upwards.

"COMMENCING LAUNCH!" I screamed and watched my cousin fly towards the Rathian.

* * *

Feeling the wind all around me, I managed to climb on the Rathalos' back and started stabbing it. Somewhere, somehow, I can see a mounting gauge. I glanced at the train and saw Saber spinning wildly in the air, hitting the Rathian multiple times and bringing it down for mounting.

The Rathalos kept flying and I held on, waiting for the right moment to keep stabbing. At this point I had stopped thinking and just let my body do everything.

Stab.

Stab.

Stab!

Finally I heard the monster's growl of pain and that strange _shing_ sound came from nowhere.

The good news is, the Rathalos is now falling down to the ground.

The bad news is, so am I.

* * *

The train's roof was one of the worst place on Earth to fight a Rathian on, but thankfully, ducking was now possible with you weapon unsheathed because **that's how real life works**.

* * *

"Aaa-fuck!" I screamed in pain as I landed feet first on the ground. No broken bones but the game made falling from a great height look so easy. Fucking **real world logic**.

* * *

We managed to cut-off the Rathians tail, making it even easier to dodge when it does its spin attack. Saber, me, and even the Rathian were having a hard time fighting on a moving roof, but somehow we all manage to kick one another's ass.

Due, to the shakiness of the roof, Saber can't keep his demon mode up and I can't use my phial attacks properly. I needed to find a more stable footing, but it's not like I can fight the Rathian _inside_ the train.

Rath-mommy blew a fireball at me and I managed to raise my shield in time. The attack was a lot stronger than I expected, and not having supercharged my shield, I experienced a little knockback. The knockback was enough to the point that I could almost feel one foot slipping of the edge of the train roof.

I slipped off the roof and managed to hold on to an open window. I thank God that my character was strong enough to hold on with one hand otherwise I'd be swept away from the train's speed. I felt my whole body dangling over the edge and mustered up all my strength to pull myself back in the train.

The Rathian noticed me through the hole in the roof and tried to attack me inside. Unfortunately, the whole wasn't big enough for the Rathian's body to fit it in through so only her head and neck reached the inside of the train.

 _This is it_ , I thought, _I'm in a more stable ground_. I shoved my sword in my shield and activated the morphing sequence for the charge slash. I can only hope that the Rathian doesn't pull out of the train before I can hit her.

I pull my charge blade back and feel the pulse of the charge resonating on my hands.

"GET OFF MY TRAIN!" I yell as I slammed my fully charged weapon on its sorry head. I saw the scales on her face break apart as the yellowish orb of my charge attack detonate.

The Rathian emits a final shriek as it dies, its head in the train while the rest of its body on the roof.

"Get rekt,scrub." Saber kicked the green-hued wyvern corpse, almost causing him to lose balance.

"Dirge," I smirked and tried to look for him and the Rathalos, "We're all clear here."

* * *

"WE ARE NOT CLEAR!" I shouted, quoting my sister's favorite Avenger while exchanging blows with the Rathalos. "WE ARE VERY NOT CLEAR!"

I had to keep the Rathalos on using melee attacks, otherwise its fireballs may hit the vehicles and civillians around us.

"Should we help you?" Saber asked.

"No," I replied, rolling out of a tackle attack. "Finish the quest, I'll keep the papa busy."

The Rathalos started flying low, and I knew that it was going to barrage me with fireballs. I ran to the spot with the least vehicles and people and hoped for the best.

I failed to notice that it was flying slightly higher, which was a tell, not of its fireball attack but…

The Rathalos flew straight at me, its talons open aiming to either poison or grab me. I managed to dodge at a split second, leaving the Rathalos feet stuck at the concrete.

"You're fucked now," I grinned as I ran at it, ready to swing my Hunting Horn. A good head-whack should finish this fight.

And… **SLAM!**

The Rathalos flinched from my attack, drooling but still standing. I let out an annoyed sigh as I realize that I was getting tired too. I might not be able to keep this up for too long. Of all the times I forgot to bring a Dash Juice.

Oh well, I'll just have to improvise.

The Rathalos ran at me, and of course, I rolled out of the way. I found an empty car and a thought emerges…

I ran up the vehicle and heaved an uppercut swing at it. To my surprise, my plan worked and the car went flying towards the Rathalos.

As if blessed by Michael Bay, the car collided with the wyvern and exploded on contact, dazing the Rathalos again.

Unfortunately, all I managed to do was piss it off more. It let out another roar, and the challenger skill I gemmed in my armor let me know that my opponent was enraged. I felt a surge of strength as my left hand started glowing red, and I knew that this was the last stretch.

It was either me or him now.

The Rathalos ran at me once more and I ran straight at him too, ready to meet his attack with mine. With our bodies fueled with rage we drove straight towards our last hurrah.

"I'm gonna end you!" I screamed. "All by myself-"

 **BANG!**

The Rathalos fell just as the shot rang out. It's wing and back suddenly broken.

I instantly stopped and looked for the source of the shot. On a nearby building I saw what looked like gunfire smoke coming from a broken window. Inside, an armored person was looking at me.

She wore what looked like a Shrouded Nerscylla armor, a glistening dark shell that made her look like some kind of robotic knight. She jumped off the window without a flinch, and started walking towards me. A black heavy bowgun that looks like a sniper rifle adorned her back.

"You're welcome," she spoke.

* * *

The quest was almost done, and as pissed off as I am at the researcher guy for jeopardizing so many people, I couldn't possibly say no to his payment. It wasn't much, but even when we split it up we should be able to buy ourselves a nice meal.

The problem was we were still at least half an hour away from Dirge, so we went on hoping that by the time we got there he had either won or at least held out. I knew that he was capable enough of holding his own, even when co-oping against multiple monsters he was always the first one to split up and fight a different monster than us. Of course, those don't always go so well, as skilled as he is he's still mostly bark than bite.

But then again, it was just a Rathalos, he's used to fighting one-on-one with those guys. He'll probably kill it on his own.

So imagine my surprise when we saw him with another hunter.

Or should I say, another huntress.


	3. Chapter 3 :Dark Business

**Chapter 3: Dark Business**

"Who's the chick?" Saber asked as he walked closer to us. I had barely caught my breath after surviving the Rathalos when my two cousins arrived. The girl who saved me had been holding back with the talking and I haven't exactly gotten any information as to who she is.

"I dunno man," I shrugged, "So far all she said to me was 'Your Welcome.'"

"You looked like you needed help," The girl in the black armor spoke, arms akimbo, "So I helped."

"Thanks," I smiled at her, not that she'd see due to the helmet, "But I didn't need help."

" _Of course you didn't_ ," she replied, walking away with an aura of sarcasm trailing behind her.

I wanted to pursue her and ask her to join our team, god knows how powerful we could be with an effective sniper on our side. Unfortunately she used a smoke bomb and disappeared like a ninja. I found Saber and Relena standing next to me when the smoke cleared up.

"What the hell just happened?"

* * *

"Welp," Char collapsed on our sofa, "I feel like shit."

Even when you're 'synced' (that's what we're calling it now) with your hunter, a lot of the action still takes a toll on your actual body.

"Man, we need to get in shape," I said, wincing as I tried to move my aching muscles. Meanwhile Frank has returned from the kitchen with bowl of cereals. "It's already afternoon, why're you eating breakfast?"

"Cereals aren't just for breakfast, idiot." She said after swallowing a spoonful of flakes.

Disregarding our little banter, I asked if we had any further inquiries or requests. Not that I was excited to go back in the field, Monster Hunting in real life was more haggard than I anticipated.

"Nope,nada,negatory,diddly-squat…" She spoke without stopping, "And other words that pretty much say, 'Let's give this up and just sell drugs or something'."

As if on cue, the laptop made a sound, it was programmed to make a noise when a notification pops up.

"Wrw,mr trmng ris amrzng," Frank mumbled with food in her mouth, and after swallowing repeated, "Wow, my timing is amazing. It's a request, of course it had to arrive after I stated that giving up was our best bet."

"Oh, karma," Char smiled, "You crack me up."

"And guess what," She had an evil grin on her face, and when Char read what she was reading he had that grin too. "She's rich and she's willing to pay a hefty sum of cash."

"Aw yiiiiiiiiiis…" We all grinned in unison. That's not how we really said it of course, but that was how it felt.

* * *

The next morning we met up with the driver of our contact person in a nearby mall. We were led to a luxurious looking car(not a limousine, unfortunately) and were driven to her home.

So the basic premise was this; A daughter of a rich businessman needed help because one of her father's warehouse has been attacked by a currently unknown monster. With the police and military currently unable to help (because his business was not big enough to actually get help from the government), the warehouse had been abandoned and is now the monster's habitat. In fear of becoming a breeding ground and perhaps even causing a huge wound at their business, the daughter looked for any mercenaries or armored individuals that could exterminate the monster and make the warehouse use-able again.

"Plus," Char spoke, "She typed that she was willing to pay a huge sum of money, so how could we possibly say no?"

"You're goddamn right," Frank replied. She accompanied us in hopes of making a good deal out of this potential contract. Plus, there might be free food, which was probably the main reason why they accompanied me. Xavier couldn't come but promised he'd be there once the mission was a go.

"You look a little too young to be hired mercenaries, don't you think?" The chauffer asked.

"We're kind of their talent managers," I replied, thinking quickly. We can't let them know that we were the hunters, we needed to stay anonymous at the very least. "We make the deals and stuff."

"You I get," he replied looking my way through the rearview mirror, "The other two look like kids."

"They're my…" I nearly struggled, but I my forte was my quick mind and even quicker tounge. "Personal assistants. Frank here takes notes for me, while Char here answers my calls. I'm a very busy man." I chuckled, hoping that he didn't see through that one.

 _Fool!,_ my brain scolded me, _That was the most obvious lie you've said in your whole life_!

"Well, I hope you're ' _Hunters_ ' are as good as you advertise they are."

"Oh they're good," I reassured him, just him. I wasn't reassured. "They're led by a powerful bard, with two swordsmen that are unmatchable in speed and power."

 _Well that was the most bullshit you've said in a row_. Shut up brain.

"Have you heard of the two dragons that attacked the railway transit yesterday?" Frank asked nonchalantly.

The chauffer nodded and asked it was our hunter's doing.

"Yep," Frank continued, "Not even a scratch on them afterwards. They even gave me a Rathalos tooth as souvenir."

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. When I whomped the Rathalos on the head, a tooth fell out and I took it home. We forgot to carve it or the Rathian though.

The chauffer smiled sheepishly and parked the car. We were too busy bragging that we never noticed we had already arrived. Their house (if you can still call it that) is a big three-story building that looks kind of like a modernized mansion. Although compared to their neighboring houses in the executive subdivision they were in, I guess you could say that their place was considerably humble.

A maid-looking lady opened the door for us and ushered us in. We were told to wait for our 'client' by the living room as sandwiches and lemonades were brought in.

"Now that's the kind of hospitality I like," Frank grinned as she took a bite out of her sandwhich, enjoying the soft cushion of the sofa she was sitting on.

Char sat quietly and begun sipping from his drink, while I took a sandwich and walked around the room for a bit, examining the surroundings.

It was a pretty basic living room, considering its occupants. The usual table top magazines adorned a very expensive looking wooden table alongside a glass bowl of fake fruits. A painting of an old man was decorated on the wall overlooking us, I presumed it was either our client's father or grandfather.

I stopped snooping around when I heard light footsteps coming our way, and straightened my clothes to look as acceptable as possible. I was used to business dealings after all, except this time instead of selling office supplies to a client I was to sell hunting services, like we were formal mercenaries or something.

Remember that stupid researcher guy we had to escort on the train ride where we were attacked by a Rathalos and Rathian?

Yeah, he has nothing to do with this situation.

On the other hand, that creepy(but cute) girl I saw who told me about 'Mommy and Daddy'?

Yeah, she's standing right in front of us.

Char and I stared at her with our mouths hanging open while Frank looked at us weirdly.

"Hey Char," Frank elbowed him, "I know my brother's into kids and all, but how come you're ogling her?"

"That's not it," Char hissed back, his eyes not leaving the little girl making her way toward us, "We saw her on our previous mission, we honestly thought she's a ghost or something."

She was just as I remembered her, except this time she was wearing a different dress. Actually, the outfit she was wearing this time looked more like an oversized shirt with a picture of the Nekobus from My Neighbor Totoro printed on its center. In my opinion, she looked like she just woke up and walked to us in her nightwear.

"Good morning, um…" I spoke up, wondering if she was a sister of the client we were meeting. Still, it was an adorable coincidence that we met again.

"Ai Mei," she smiles at us, not the sweet smile I'm used to seeing in children her age, but a formal smile. You know, the kind that looks natural but still feels forced? "You may call me Ai, or Mei, or Amy like my friends do."

We all just stared silently at her, even I, who considers myself an expert at talking to kids, was dumbstruck. There was a very…mature air in the way she spoke, like an actual adult simply stuck in a child's body.

She walked closer to me and stuck out her hand.

"So, shall we get down to business?"

* * *

Indigo took the little girl's hand and shook it, indicating that we are indeed getting down to business. We all sat down as she sat on a chair adjacent to us, one leg over the other. It reminds me of seeing those bosses when they talk to either their clients or subordinates, making me wonder just how old this girl really is.

"As I said in my previous inquiry," Ai Mei spoke up, clearly but gently, "I need your hunters to clear out one of our abandoned warehouses from a monster that has possibly nested there."

"How did you know," Char butted in, leaning forward from the sofa, "That a monster is currently there?"

"It attacked some of our employees," she replied, "Causing them to evacuate the place and never go back."

"Are we, by any chance…" Indigo said, his eyes never leaving hers, "You're last resort?"

She didn't answer, she simply took out a tablet computer I didn't notice she had, and showed us the screen. They looked like videos, small security footages compiled together. She pointed at one of the footages. It was a little dark since the timestamp showed it was at night, but we could notice what looked like human figures with guns shooting at something in the darkness. Minutes later they were all wiped out.

The monster itself was not clearly caught on tape, but a tail would occasionally emerge and take one of the men out. To make things scarier, I'm pretty sure I saw a man get impaled by some kind of spiked projectile from the darkness.

"That answer your question?" She asked and we didn't exactly nod, but she got the point, "We've tried anyone with conventional weapons willing to take it down. As you can see, those plans went brutally awry."

"What do you think?" My brother asked looking over at Char, "I mean, it kind of looks like a…"

"Nargacuga," Char muttered, "But MH4 doesn't have any…"

"Regardless of what it is," Ai continued, "The hunters I saw on the train seemed capable enough, they _are_ yours right?"

What did she mean by that? Did she know that my brother and my cousins were the monster hunters, or did she simply ask if the hunters reported to us?

"Yes," I replied,thinking quickly, "We know the hunters and we're in charge of getting them their missions."

"Right," she looked at me with a straight, but suspicious glance, "In any case, would I be able to rely on your hunters to clean the warehouse up?"

"We'll take it," the three of us nearly said in unison. We all looked at each other with a grin as we realized that if we do this right, we're gonna be rich pretty soon.

Unless something goes to shit again.

"Thank you," She replies, standing up, "Please stay for a while, lunch will be served by the patio."

"That's what I'm talking about," Char whispered, a big smile on his face.

"You guys go on ahead," Indigo looked at us as we were escorted towards the patio, then looked back at Ai, "A word please, in private?"

What the hell is that idiot up to now?

* * *

"I never got your names," The beautiful little girl in front of me said, she had led me upstairs by her bedroom to a balcony overlooking the patio. "I'm sorry if I seemed rude."

"It's okay," I waved it off, marveling at her simple yet enticing (to me, probably) attire. The whole oversized shirt thing is something that's always been considered hot after all. I told her our names and looked over the balcony, waving at Char and Frank as they filled their plates up.

I faced Amy and put on my best poker face.

"You know something about the armored sniper, don't you?" I asked, looking her straight in the eyes, "The one that helped me against that Rathalos?"

"What are you talking about," she replied, her eyes not leaving mine, her face calm and unmoved. If I didn't know better I'd think she was also wearing a poker face of her own. "I saw your hunters in the train and left for home afterwards. I don't know anything about your mystery woman."

I smiled at her and walked downstairs to eat, she followed me with inquisitive eyes. I looked up at her, and said:

"I never said she was a woman."

* * *

It took us till 6 in the evening before we could go to the abandoned warehouse. Xavier had to do something until the afternoon and we had to wait for him. As much as I know that Relena and Dirge can handle a Nargacuga(probably), Saber was a part of the team and we need every member to make sure that we succeed.

We had just donned our armors when I saw Frank running toward us.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I half-whisper, half-shouted at my sister, "This place is too dangerous."

"I know," she replied calmly, then held up a key, "But how are you gonna get inside?"

Damn, I must have left the key back somewhere. Amy had given it to us before we left. I also managed to ask for her number, not just for personal reasons but also to ask her about…that.

By a dark area beside the warehouse entrance, the huntress had been waiting for us. She was leaning on the wall like those tough-act delinquents in animes.

"Took you guys long enough," she said with a deep female voice, not even bothering to look our way, "Are you prepared?"

Her armor, just as I remembered, was pure black like the Shrouded Nerscylla. After noticing that the cape adorning the armor was also dark, I had realized that it was a Nerscylla armor with black color pigments.

Relena and Saber were just staring at her, probably wondering why she's here.

"Why are you here?" Saber asked before I could start explaining.

"She's Amy's contact, Arachnid," I replied, "I asked for a little help, and knowing how good she is with her heavy bowgun…"

"Just keep the enemy off me and I'll take it out faster than you three combined." Was all she said.

"You wanna bet?" Saber asked, showing off his dual blades.

"I know we don't look much," Relena added, "But we could probably handle it."

"We'll kick the ass of whatever monster is in there," I butted in, getting between Saber and Arachnid in case they suddenly go for each other's throats, "But I need you guys to do it. **ALL** of you."

"That's right." Frank said.

" **YOU…** " I pointed at my sister, "…go home."

* * *

After arguing how Frank will only be in danger by staying with us, Dirge/Indigo finally convinced his sister to go home. I looked over at Relena and Arachnid and realized that we finally had two girls in the group. I mean techinically Relena is actually a boy, but still.

The inside of the warehouse was surprisingly large and roomy, there were literally plenty of rooms and twists and turns for a monster to hide in. The worst part was that the main electrical switch was deep inside the main workroom, so we had no choice but to stumble in complete darkness until we could get there.

It's not that I'm afraid of the dark, or of whatever was hiding in it. There's nothing to be afraid of…right?

Just a ninja-like monster who can blend in the darkness, stalking its prey as it prepares to slaughter us.

But what if it's worse than a Narga? What if there's, like, a Chameleos or a Deviljho waiting for us in there?

I tortured myself with paranoid thoughts as we edged slowly and stealthily towards the main switch. Every step felt like an eternity and I could honestly feel the darkness surrounding us.

I heard a faint scraping and looked towards an open door, leading to a room filled with nothing but black silence.

I gripped my dual blades tighter, tried to look back on track but I couldn't stop staring.

Somewhere, in the darkness in this room, something was staring back at me.

My eyes finally adjusted as I saw the faint glow of two red eyes in the room. Deep in the abyss that is probably just a storeroom, I heard a strange shaking…

…like a rattle.

Before I could even think, a green blur sped in front of me and I heard a strong clink, like metal striking metal. I realized that it was actually Relena in front of me, her shield raised to defend both of us. On the floor was a spike, something that could've probably impaled me.

Relena looked back at me and asked if I was okay. I could tell that he was holding back on the gloating since it was very rare for him to actually time his block and save our asses. Thank God his timing was right in this one.

"Everyone, run towards the main office!" Dirge shouted as we scrambled to get away from the hostile Nargacuga. A few more tail spikes shot out of the room before the monster itself crashed through the wall to attack us.

It was too dark in here, we needed to turn the lights on. This would have been simple, if only we were not running away from a pissed off Bat Ninja determined to kill us.

"What if I stay here and keep it busy?" Relena shouted while looking back at the thing chasing us.

"It's too dark, you won't stand a chance!" Arachnid shouted as well, leading the way.

I saw Dirge take a left by a room and followed him, too late to realize that he had split up from Arachnid and Relena. When I entered, he had already hidden and was looking at his items, icons floating and shifting above his head.

"Where the hell are you guys?" Relena asked through our voice chat, I almost laughed as I realized that we were like telepaths, speaking to each other using our psychic powers.

"Just turn the lights on!" Dirge shouted as he stood back up and ran out of the room. I followed him out just in time to see him throw a sonic bomb at the Nargacuga.

He looked at me and nodded, it was go time.

Time to find out if we were half as good in the dark.

* * *

"We only have a few seconds before it goes into rage mode!" I heard Dirge shout in my head, "We need to buy Relena and Arachnid some time!"

I heard Saber shout with him, and assumed that they went to attack the monster with just the two of them.

"Are we there yet?" I asked Arachnid in front of me.

She didn't reply, she just ran. I looked back and hoped that my brothers could handle it. In retrospect, Dirge was our strategist so he wouldn't go against that thing in the dark without a plan. Meanwhile, Saber was the most hardworking in the group, going on hunts more often than me nor Dirge did, giving him more experience against fighting monsters.

Let's hope they're enough to fight that thing back there.

* * *

With Dirge focusing on it's head, he told me to try to cut the tail off. It was a good pincer attack, and we were only both in trouble if the Narga decided to use a spinning attack on us. Problem was, we can't exactly see pretty good, so aiming for a specific body part was pointless and we ended up just attacking blindly whatever we could reach.

I heard a pained grunt as Dirge was swiped away by the tail, slamming him towards the wall. I was just in time to see it go for me and dodge aside, running towards Dirge to see if he was ok.

Instead of standing up to greet me, Dirge hit me sideways with his Hunting Horn, sending me flying back towards the room he hid in a while ago.

I looked up just in time to see a tail spike fly straight to his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.

 _That was the second time my brothers saved me from a spike,_ I thought as I searched for my lifepowders.

Dirge pulled the spike out of his shoulder with a shorter version of his previous scream, and told us not to worry about him.

 _Worrying is my expertise_ , I thought as I used my lifepowder.

And then, just as I ran back in the fight to help Dirge…

…the lights turned on.

* * *

The sudden flash of light in a previously dark place was, at the very least, blinding. We all felt like we have been flash bombed and I secretly hoped that the Nargacuga felt it as well. Once my vision had gone back to focus, I saw the bat-like creature still dazed, one of its wingblades already broken.

Relena was already behind it, with Arachnid sitting on a scaffolding above and shooting endlessly like she wasn't even affected by the sudden light a while ago.

I saw Saber run towards the Nargacuga and started slashing madly at its feet. I joined in and aimed a power slam at its head.

 **BAM!**

The monster started seeing stars and fell down, giving all four of us enough opportunity to kick its ass.

"I'll aim for the face, stay away or get slammed!" I shouted, used to giving the orders, "Saber, demon-dance its tail off!"

He ran to its tail and activated a flurry of demonized cut and swipes.

"Relena, ready your Mjollnir strike at that area," I pointed to a place.

He/She went and prepared her Charge Blade phialoverload attack.

"Arachnid-"

"You don't get to tell me what to do!" Arachnid snapped back at me, "Just give me a shot and I'll take it!"

Gritting my teeth, I rolled out of the way as the Nargacuga stood back up. Before it could even regain its senses, Saber cut off its tail, causing it to collapse forward. Just as planned, Relena released her phial overcharge just as the Nargacuga stumbled in front of him/her. And just as the Nargacuga flinched from that powerful attack, Arachnid shot a piercing bullet, critical hits travelling all the way through its head to its tail. With one final uppercut slam, I delivered the killing blow.

After we finished carving the beast we just killed, we all blew a sigh of relief as we exited the warehouse. The nightmare was technically over, and lots of riches await.

"Thanks for the help," I shook Arachnid's hand, "It's a good thing you turned the lights on in time."

"Uh, right," She must not be used to saying pleasantries like this. "Thanks, too, I guess."

She split up with us before we could head back to Amy, and by split up I mean just suddenly disappeared when we weren't looking. Frank was waiting there with her since it was closer and safer than making her go straight home at night.

* * *

I was just starting to get bored when the boys arrived. They had already transformed back and were more than eager to be served dinner. Ai Mei arrived as we were eating to discuss our deal.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she took a seat, her pink nightgown deconstructing the creepy ghost-girl image Char told me of. This is something my brother would probably say, but I must admit that she was clearly a pretty girl, "So, you guys finished the quest."

"Our hunters did," I replied.

"Let's drop the act," she grinned, "I know you three boys are the hunters."

Xavier and Char stared at her, like she just solved an incredibly vague mystery.

"Nevermind that," Indigo spoke up, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "Let's discuss the reward."

"Oh yeah," She looked down, "My dad wouldn't actually allow me to dispense that much money, so I'll have to offer something less pricey."

"Like?" I asked, enjoying the desert that was just served. _Leche Flan_ s have always been my favorite desert.

"My sponsorship," Ai Mei said, crossing her arms, "You're gonna need a little financial backing, a little nudge to help you in your future missions. I'll help shoulder the costs."

Well, it's better than nothing.

"That's great," my brother replied, "And we are willing to accept that, but if I may, I would also like for a little extra."

"Which is?"

"You're help…" he continued, chewing on a piece of chocolate, "…in the field."

"I can't help," she raised an eyebrow, staring down my brother, "I'm only 10, it's not like I can fight those things."

"Yes you can…" Indigo stood up, walked over to Ai Mei, and kneeled down so that his face was next to hers. I honestly thought that he was going to kiss her, but thankfully he just raised her chin with his finger (kind of how like some guys do when they're about to kiss someone). But instead of kissing her, he just looked at her in the eye, and said:

"Arachnid."


	4. Chapter 4:Raptor Brothers

**Chapter 4: Raptor Brothers**

 _The way is clear,_

 _The light is good,_

 _I have no fear,_

 _Nor no one should._

"Dammit Relena, stop singing!" Saber shouted as we ran through the streets. Amidst all the chaos, people were being evacuated. I looked back to see a stretchy-t-rex looking green monster rampaging around the town.

"What, you don't like Into The Woods?" Relena asked as he/she stopped to help a civilian trapped in a car. The Deviljho behind us was beginning to get closer, and we still had so many people to evacuate. Once the civilians were out of harm's way, then we bring the pain.

I heard sirens getting closer and saw some police cars and ambulances coming from the main road. Even though this town was considerably small there were still plenty of people living around the area. It was a good thing that we were nearby when a Deviljho decided to show up and go haywire. My fists were still clenched in rage as I remember the unfortunate street dog I watched get devoured, I couldn't do anything to save it as I had carried some toddlers to be taken to their parents.

"Authorities are here," Arachnid spoke through the voice chat, I saw her trying to slow down the pickle-saurus by sniping at it from a far-off rooftop, "You asswipes can worry about musicals once we're through this."

Saber was the first to make it to the authorities, putting kids down and helping the other evacuees get there safe. He always was the fastest out of the four of us, then again both his armor and weapons are considerably light. "Is it just me or does the little girl have the foulest mouth among us?"

"Keep talking like that," Arachnid said as she fired another piercing shot, "And I'll turn you to a little girl."

Relena finished escorting the people and readied her Charge Blade, "Wow you can almost feel the sexual tens-"

" **NO**!" I screamed as I ran with babies in my arms, "NO. NO."

The Deviljho was getting even closer, looking very pissed and very hungry. Power lines entangled it, which would've slowed it down, but instead the monster just twisted around until the lines started breaking and the posts nearby started collapsing down.

Thankfully, we had finished helping the people evacuate, and we're all ready to take down the pickle-saurus. Even though Arachnid's only been in the team for a week, she had shown the ability to cooperate with us, all while verbally abusing us at the same time. It was almost like a weird love-hate relationship.

Just before we could even shout our battle cries or start running towards danger, we heard a weak 'WAIT!' from the crowd.

"Oh shit," I heard Saber sigh, "It's that same researcher guy from before."

I looked behind and saw,indeed, it was the same researcher guy from before.

"Hey…. same researcher guy from before," I waved at him, "What are you doing here?"

"Wait, is his name really same researcher guy from before?" Arachnid asked, "Why is he even a recurring character?"

* * *

Basically, same researcher guy from before needed a fresh Deviljho body for research (duh), so the four of us had to capture it. Arachnid has speed setup while Dirge had Capture Guru so me and Relena just need to keep it paintballed while kicking its ass.

That shouldn't be so hard.

Right?

* * *

"By the way Char, I mean Relena," I said as I slammed my Hunting Horn at the Deviljho's feet. I heard Saber grunt as I accidentally slammed him as well, and said sorry as I rolled out of the monster's spin-attack. "How're the twins?"

In case I forgot to mention before, while both Xavier and I have sisters (mine was younger than me while Xavier's was older than him), Char had twin brothers. Named Yuri and Yuel, they might as well be called Yin and Yang, being practically opposites of one another. Yuri is the sweet one, always saying please and being understanding and basically a gentleman. Yuel is wild, but not YOLO wild, he is hyperactive and miraculously has not yet broken a single bone in his eight year old body. The best part was that even though they're completely different from one another, they still somehow manage to get along and never have I heard them fight.

I understand that doing flash backs is not ideal while fighting a Devijho, but sometimes you just think of something and everything comes pouring back, you know?

* * *

"You're supposed to press Y to unsheathe your weapon first," I pointed out to the little boy snuggled next to me. Wearing blue pajamas with smiley prints all over it, Yuri was nearly past his bed time, but I promised Char I'd help him teach them how to play MH3U and I don't see why an additional hour would hurt since it was the weekend tomorrow. His hair was almost like a bowl hair-style, but somehow no matter how much I ruffle it, it never gets disheveled. "Then you can press Y again to use that item."

"That's a lot of trouble just to drink something," He giggled as he saw his character fly back from a Great Jaggi side-tackle. "Can't I just poke my gunlance on it like it's a pencil holder? That way I don't need to keep my weapon anymore."

" **YEAH**!" Yuel shouted from across the room, which was pretty much next to us, so my ears got a bit traumatized for a second. " **STABBY THAT G JAGGI !** " His pajama was orange-hued, with red and yellow stripes which made him look like a walking flag or something. His hair, which was always an adorable mess, seemed impossible to fix without a gel (which he hates).

I put my finger on my lips and shushed him, warning him that the adults downstairs might get mad and force us to go to sleep.

Now that I think about it, if you put Yuri, Char, and Yuel in a straight line it would look like different levels: Soft, In-Between, and Loud…or something like that.

"You know," Char said, lying down on the cushion while playing with Yuel. I think they were already doing some co-op quests together. "When Xavier gets a 3DS we won't be able to play together all at once."

"Then we'll take turns," Yuri replied with a sweet smile that made me think how ideal it would be for him to be a child actor or a model in the near future. Then he can introduce me to any 'actresses' he co-works with…

"What's with the evil grin?" Yuel asked with an eyebrow raise that can rival mine(I'm proud of my eyebrow raising skill okay). "Ri, be careful, he might've gotten a boner from your cuddling." Now he's the one with an evil grin.

I fought his eyebrow raise with my own, "Seriously? You think I'm that kind of guy?"

"Just looking after my bro-bro, Bro."

Yuri giggled again, "Hee hee, ' _bro bro bro_ '." And then he jumped up and almost stepped on my gut, "Yay, I did it!"

I watched as the wyvern fire from his gunlance finally kill the so-called 'Hunter's Punching Bag', he had been struggling with the whole R+X+A button combo and I'm glad he finally got around to doing it.

Meanwhile, I looked over and saw Yuel spamming his character's lance charge attack, which would be nice if he didn't include Relena in his piercing path all the time.

"I swear, it's almost like you're _aiming_ for me," Char grunted as he watched his female charge blade user get cancelled from an attack.

"Don't get in the way bro," Yuel grinned, "I keep telling you when I'm about to charge anyway."

"Yeah," Yuri butted in, "Press B so you can dodge out of his pathway."

"I know that," Char sighed, "And can't you use any other attacks?!"

"It's more fun like this," Yuel said with a thumbs-up.

To that, we all agreed.

* * *

"Get your perverted head out of the clouds, Didgeridoo!" I heard Arachnid snap in my ears. Her voice was beautiful in person but painful through the voice chat, especially when she shouts, "It's about to dragon breath your ass to Valhalla!"

I dodged away in time to hear that Relena was about to talk.

"You missed the twins already?" She said, "Me too. Don't worry their summer camp actually finishes today so…"

She raised her shield to block some flying boulders, "Woah, that hit harder than I thought it would!"

"That's what she said," Saber snickered.

Even with our helmets, I could feel all our eyes glare at him and it was almost like a silent promise to kill him after we finish the quest.

* * *

"Ohh, that's so gross!" Yuri mewled with his hands covering his face, of course, he was peeking. We were watching Char play Outlast on his computer and we were having a blast with all the jumpscares and outright nightmare-fuel.

"Meh, I've seen worse," Yuel said but he was also covering his face.

"Seriously though," I spoke up as Char shut the game down and we went downstairs for lunch. "If I lost my fingers like that, my camcorder is the last thing I'd be thinking about."

"Yeah, my 3DS would be top priority," Char smirked. Pizza had been delivered and Frank was already waiting for us by the table.

Frank had already took a slice of pizza and didn't even bother to wait for us to actually eat, "A horror game? You guys sure are brothers of the year, showing that to those kids."

I chomped on a slice of pizza and reveled in its stuffed crust awesomeness, "There are worse things to show to a kid, you know, like por-"

* * *

"What?!" I heard Arachnid shout through the chaos. The Deviljho had gotten angry(which gave Saber a 'that's what she said' opportunity), and was wrecking stuff around us. The mini-map at the corner of my eye had a pink ball that was still unblinking.

"BORN! I said I was born to kick ass." I shouted back, swing an uppercut slam at the D-Jho's face. I saw Saber climb up to a nearby roof and go helicopter blade on our enemy, unfortunately it was not enough to make it mountable.

The D-Jho flinched and I saw that Relena was able to hit it with a phial attack, "It's getting too close to the main road," She spoke. "Can we cap it yet?!"

I shook my head and my teammates all groaned. The enemy was a lot sturdier than we anticipated, and any back-up from the police is currently unavailable due to a different infestation in a nearby town. I could feel it and so can they, this Deviljho was outlasting us in terms of stamina.

We were still human after all, and we were getting tired.

* * *

"Great," Char grunted as he plopped at the couch next to me and the twins, "Now you're teaching my little brothers to play Akibastrip?"

"It's an interesting game," I smirked and the two agreed with me. We had been taking turns and it was Yuri's. He had been doing the sidequests while Yuel just picked fights and started stripping everyone. Both of them giggled adorably while playing, which was a good stress-relief than playing the game itself in my opinion.

After getting a little tired of being in front of a large tv for too long (my poor old eyes can only handle up to two straight hours of big screen games), we decided it was time to do some MH3U quests and see how far the yin-yang brothers had come. Coincidentally, Yin was Yuri's hunter name while Yang was Yuel's.

When MH4U finally came in, the armors they truly went for was the Gore and Shagaru armor, since it was perfect for the whole Yin-Yang thing (even though it wasn't ideal for their weapon styles).

It's really too bad that they had to go to summer camp, if they didn't Char and I might've brought them along to play with us at the mall…

Then again, at least they didn't have to be a part of this danger we were in.

* * *

"It's capturable!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as we chased the D-Jho to the highway. The speeding vehicles went even faster as they saw a green t-rex rampaging through the road. Metal screeches and burning rubber surrounded us as panicking drivers slammed their breaks and tried to swerve away from the monster.

At this point, a fender bender is nearly inevitable.

"I'll set one in the middle of the road," Arachnid shouted, running recklessly through the oncoming traffic, "Cover me!"

"Don't screw this up!" Saber shouted back as he tried to keep the Deviljho fixated on him.

Relena was quietly beside Arachnid, prepared to block any incoming attacks(or even cars) that might hit her. He didn't have to wait long, since Arachnid's speed setup meant she only took a few seconds to put the shock trap on the ground.

I finished playing a Defense Up recital on my hunting horn and caught up to them. Relena, Arachnid, and I were all defending the trap and waiting for Saber to bring the monster to us.

"To quote Tony Stark," Saber said as we saw him running towards us, " **I'm bringing the party to you!** "

Arachnid had her tranq shots prepared, but Relena, Saber and I had prepared our tranq bombs just in case. Our muscles were all feeling the strain, and I could only hope that we don't all collapse before this was over.

As strong as our hunter avatars are, our actual bodies still receive part of the stress and damage that our avatars get. Char's body and mine might be able to take that much beating, but Xavier and Amy are just kids. We can't afford to stretch this out any longer.

The Deviljho was only a few steps away from the trap, just a little more…

When a speeding van crashes right at its feet. The Deviljho was barely fazed by this, but it took interest in this meddler. There were more vehicles near the monster, and it had finally noticed all these new prey it can attack.

"Dammit!" I cried out as I ran for the monster once more. After a few steps, though, I felt the strength fade from my body and my legs gave in.

I watched in horror as my hand unconsciously let go of my weapon, the hunting horn fizzling softly and dissipating as it hit the ground. The gauntlets I had on were starting to disintegrate as well, and I knew right then and there that I was weak again. Human again.

"Wait, is that-" Relena, slowly turning back into Char, mumbled while staring at a familiar looking car just meters away from the Deviljho, "-God, please no…"

I looked closer, it was their family vehicle. Char's parents must have been on the way to pick-up the twins from camp.

No, wait, if they are on this side of the road…

"They must have already picked the boys up," I groaned as I tried to keep standing, never have I felt this tired and beat up before. Arachnid was still there and Saber was trying his best to stay Saber. How ironic that the older ones are the ones that lost their strength first. "That means their all in the car…"

I saw Char inch closer to their car, struggling to keep going and holding onto random stopped vehicles to drag himself forward.

"You two can't even keep your avatar up that long?" Arachnid sighed as she prepared to shoot the monster. Once she had loaded an ammo I saw that the barrel of her heavy bowgun had begun dissipating as well. "Fuck, am I already out of juice?"

"Sabe-" I was going to tell Saber to make one last attack or anything, but wasn't surprised to see that he had also turned back to Xavier. We couldn't do anything anymore, just lay down and hope the police or military arrive to help in time. I would slam my fist on the ground if I could, but I can't. My body just won't listen anymore.

Char was still trying to move, but there's only so much the body can do, and he was nowhere near his family yet.

Could this really be…our first quest failed? But then again, even if we fail there's no retry…

If we fail, a lot of people will die. Including us, probably.

* * *

Just a little bit more.

If I could just push my body, a little bit more, I could make it.

 _And then what?_ A voice in my head muttered, probably the sensible version of me, _When that Deviljho attacks they'll all die. Oh well, at least you get to die with your family,huh?_

Maybe, just maybe, I can save them. Papa and Mama and Yuri and Yuel, I can't let them get hurt, not when I finally have the power to fight…

Dammit, it can't end like this!

* * *

"All right, let's do this quest," I snickered. Char, Xavier, Yuri and Yuel were all sitting near me. It was Yuri's turn to join in and we were more than happy to have two tanks in the team: Relena and Yin. His Arc Armor S and White Cannon Gunlance may not be the best equipment, but Yin seems comfortable with it and that's what matters.

"Y'know," Xavier said as we began the quest, "We really need some kind of team name, something awesome that shows how much our skills complement one another or something."

"Yeah, like, a wolf pack or something." Char grinned.

"I got an even better idea, something better than wolves…" I replied with the Jurassic Park theme song playing in my head, "Raptors. Just like wolves, they cooperate in hunting prey and can take down even the largest enemies. With teamwork."

"What, so we're like Raptor brothers?" Yuel asked and Yuri nodded along.

"Yeah," I said with a smile, not expecting that what I would say next would stick to them, "Raptor Brothers."

* * *

The Deviljho had its foot on top of Char's family car now, it's drooling mouth hovering above the roof like it was about to devour it. Unfortunately, there were no quick time events or any button smashing that can help them now.

I saw Char crawling closer to the car, and thought of something as I saw the twins inside looking terrified and dumbstruck. Would it be safer for them to stay in the car, or run out and away? What would Alan Grant or Ian Malcolm do?

I took my phone out of my pocket, surprised that it was still there, and dialed someone.

"Maybe there's a dog shit somewhere we can throw," Xavier muttered as he struggled to stand up.

A familiar voice answered my call and I managed to say what I needed to say.

I just hope this works.

* * *

I propped myself up on a nearby vehicle and saw my twin brothers exit the car. Still dressed in their camp uniform (a blue shirt with the camp's name silk-screen printed on it and khaki shorts) , Yuri and Yuel stood on both sides of the car, staring the monster down with their best poker face on.

Both of them were clutching something in their hands. Wait, are those their 3DS?

They flipped their consoles open and stared intently at the screen as the Deviljho roared at them.

I prayed to everything I can pray to that it would work, I mean why wouldn't it? The weird wave-thingy was a worldwide event, shouldn't it have affected them to?

The Deviljho attacked. It's jaws wide-open and ready to gobble up my brothers.

The twins were still standing there, human as they can be, their avatar hunters not showing up.

* * *

The Deviljho was so close, it was about to eat Yuri, and I can applaud the little boy for standing his ground. This was on me, I thought, I shouldn't have called them and told them to try using their Hunters like we did.

I just killed my cousins…

Just as all hope was lost, something caused the Deviljho to flinch. It was almost like being in slowmotion, with the D-Jho's face barely touching Yuri's as it was about to devour him. And then, something that looked like a bullet hit it in the face.

The Deviljho flinched and stepped back, when all of a sudden it's face exploded.

"That's either a grenade launcher," Amy winced, "Or a Crag shot."

We all looked at where the shot came from, and saw a bunch of police officers. The person leading them was…armored.

Looking like some kind of special ops commando kind of guy, he was wearing light-brown-ish military looking armor. It took me a while to realize that this must be the Nibelsnarf X armor, which I should've easily recognized due to the gas-mask looking helmet and the backpack and armor plating. In his hands he pointed a Seregios lightbowgun at the Deviljho.

Behind him were police officers, and a few military-looking soldiers.

"I've got the monster," He gestured at the officers behind him, I can only assume he's the leader of their operation. "Get the civilians out."

He reloads his bowgun and walks closer to the tired but pissed-off Deviljho. The police officers had escorted Char and his family away from the danger zone, and I saw the other ones headed our way.

"Alright big guy," He points the gun straight at the monster's face.

"You're under arrest."


	5. Chapter 5: New Players, New Rules

**Chapter 5: New Players, New Rules**

 _ **Plenty of civilians were injured this afternoon as a gigantic monster rampaged through the highway from a nearby town. Miraculously, no one was killed due to the timely intervention of a nearby police force led by Captain Simon Waltz, who happened to be one of the armored individuals now being called 'Hunters' from around the globe. The exact amount of casualties is yet to be determined-**_

I turned the tv off and stopped trying to call my brothers cellphone. Whatever happened, I was sure it was the trouble they were 'helping with' this morning. Last I heard from Indigo it was supposed to be an evacuation from a possible Devil…something, I'm not very good with these monsters' names yet.

I packed my favorite backpack and decided to commute there and confront the guys themselves.

Here's hoping they didn't get their selves killed.

* * *

I look to my right.

Char was with his family, Yuri had cried himself to sleep with his head on his big brother's lap, Yuel was sitting quietly next to his twin, staring blankly in front of him. Char was being questioned by both the authorities and his parents as to what happened, but I had told him beforehand to say that we were just travelling and was caught in the crossfire.

I look to my left.

Xavier and Amy were both being checked by paramedics for any injuries or trauma, with Amy swatting a hand away and saying that she's okay and to check on the other people instead. Xavier had nothing to say, and when he saw me looking he just looked away.

We failed, and if Capt. Waltz hadn't arrived in time we'd all be dead. All my life I had gotten used to failing miserably in the things I tried to do, but this was the first time that failure had made me feel so broken, it was like I finally see how serious things truly are. Looking at the eyes of the kids I hunt with, they had finally realized it too.

A single mistake can be truly fatal this time around.

The Deviljho we had struggled with was sleeping peacefully in Amy's shock trap, it was a miracle that the trap didn't disappear along with Arachnid, and Waltz was able to trap it quickly.

"Seeing the nitty-gritty for the first time?" A voice loomed closer to me. I looked up and saw Capt. Waltz walk up to me, still in his Hunter Avatar form. The G-rank Nibelsnarf armor looked like something from an FPS video game, and fit Waltz' persona perfectly. He shot a hand out to me, "Simon Waltz, or in this outfit, Bellum."

"Indigo," I shook his hand , "Thanks for the save." His grasp was firm, but not intimidating. He asked me the usual questions like how was I holding up or why the monster needed to be captured. I explained as much as I can without revealing anything about me or my cousins.

"Look, I appreciate you and the kids trying to help," I almost froze when I heard him, for I never told him that we were fighting in our avatars beforehand, "The four of you were seen _very_ near to the trap, so I put it together. You're Hunters, I get that."

Before I could talk he stopped me and put a stern hand on my shoulder.

"But this isn't a game anymore. Those two kids with you could be scarred for life, heck, what would you do if you got them killed?!" He turned his back and proceeded to walk to same researcher guy from before, then stopped and looked back at me, "Let the professionals handle this. Please."

He then went to same researcher guy from before and did what I've been wanting to do. I couldn't help but smile as his fist connected to the poor researcher and watched him lecture about jeopardizing the safety of everyone.

What he said to me, though, that was something that would bug me for a while.

* * *

The area around the place of incident was crowded as fuck. With lots of unnecessary people trying to find out what's going on, the police were having a hard time keeping the perimeter clear so they could help the injured and clean up any debris.

My brother and my cousins are in there, so I had to think of a way to get in contact with them. I mean sure I can wait until they were allowed to go home but the suspense was killing me, are they okay? Are they dead? Is one of them in a telenovela-style comatose and might have amnesia when he wakes up?

I stumbled and nearly fell as I felt someone bump into me. I looked beside me and saw a guy in his twenties, average body build with a buzz-cut hairstyle. He was wearing a plain white shirt with cargo shorts, he honestly resembled my brother if I do say so myself.

He saw me looking at him and smiled, it was a simple smile, the kind you give to random people you see on your way to school or work. And yet, his felt sincere, friendly.

"Curious?" He asked as he looked at the barricaded area. Was he looking for someone too?

"I know someone in there," I replied, trying to tiptoe and look over the crowd in front of me. It was nearly impossible, for a girl of my stature.

"So you wanna get inside?" He continued while walking around the people in front of us. I followed him through the chaos, asking myself why I was following but still doing it anyway.

"What do you think?" I replied sarcastically, something I couldn't help but do. He didn't look suspicious to me, but he was clearly out of place too. He looked…too normal to be normal. "Who are you anyway?"

"Oscar," He replied, then stopped to look at something, "Oscar Chase." He pointed at what looked like a less guarded area in the perimeter where some people were sneaking in and out. "You can get in through there, just be careful."

I thanked him and snuck in, looking back to see that he had disappeared. I wondered if he was by any chance going to be an important factor in our lives, or could just be an absolutely random variable.

I saw Indigo and brushed Oscar off my mind, there were more pressing matters to worry about.

* * *

"What's the matter professor X," Amy grinned beside me, unlike her usual self, the grin looked weak and forced. Looking at Char and Indigo, it was clear that we were all just trying to get by, hoping for our energy to come back. We were still drained, after all, "Bet you didn't expect all this to happen huh?"

"I'm not bald and I'm not in a wheelchair," I replied, trying to be more assertive but failing. Instead I just sound like a tired drunk arguing with another tired drunk. "Of course I didn't expect any of this to happen, how could anyone?"

"The games were simpler," She continued, looking around with a pained glimmer in her eyes, "This… regardless, I should've expected this. We're not in a game after all."

I looked around like she does, absorbing all the destruction that we couldn't prevent. At the very least, we were thankful nobody got killed.

"Why did we transform back?" I asked no one in particular. I had plenty of theories regarding that, either because of our 2/3DS batteries going out or perhaps a time limit or something as simple as getting too tired for our bodies to keep the transformation up.

I saw Amy shrug by the corner of my eye, and without knowing it much, I shrugged too.

* * *

After endless questioning as to how we got here, my parents finally got the clue that I wasn't in the mood to talk. Although to be honest, I wasn't in the mood for anything but rest. I looked at the twins snuggling quietly by my sides and thanked God that they were both safe.

I told myself that I would personally thank Capt. Waltz, but was too wasted to even bother thinking about standing up.

Yuri woke up with his head still on my lap, and I managed to ruffle his hair. He just smiled at me as if everything was normal, and I was surprised to feel my mouth mimicking his and smiling as well.

"The military man sure is cool, huh?" Yuel asked with a weak voice, almost a whisper, something he rarely does, "Indigo called and said we could transform if we looked at our Monster Hunters hard enough…"

"I guess he's not always right," was all I could say.

* * *

"And that's what happened," I sighed as I finished telling Frank the events that occurred before all this shitstorm passed. My sister was glad I was okay, but very pissed with how things had turned out.

"You know," She said, sitting on a bench next to me, "When we talked about you guys doing this kind of thing weeks ago, I never thought something like this would happen. If there's anything history has thought us, things will get worse."

"Are you saying we should stop?"

"Maybe," she continued, rummaging through her bag, "All I'm saying is if you keep going, this turnout would be normal and the next worse thing would be equally unavoidable. But then again…"

She took out a convenience store bought waffle and handed one to me, she always knew the flavor I liked the most.

"Who's to say things could've been worse if you guys weren't here?"

* * *

We decided to lay low for a while, and a while in our case was 1 week. It took us all a whole week to gather ourselves back together before Amy contacted us and asked if we were okay with meeting in our new headquarters.

The new headquarter was basically the warehouse we had been in before, sans Nargacuga. After hiring some extra muscle, Amy had the place cleaned up and transformed into an acceptable work place for us. The place was not that big for a regular warehouse, but for us, it was more than enough. The largest function room was used for meetings, especially if the clients want to personally meet us. The other smaller rooms were turned into a gym, pantry, and a living room where we could lounge around and play. There were still some spare rooms, but in the meantime it had more than what we needed.

Char, Xavier, Yuri, Yuel, Frank and I went inside to find that Amy had already been waiting for us. The twins were brought along since no one was going to be left to look after them at home, and classes are not yet till a couple of weeks.

Amy had a WiiU already set up in our play area and was playing Splatoon, shouting profanities you wouldn't expect from a little girl of her age and upbringing.

"Is that all you can paint, you jizz-less-" She stopped instantly when she saw the twins, and finished the match in silence. She looked back at us as she turns the console off, "Forgive me, you know I get…aggressive when playing video games."

"What does jizz mean?" Yuri asked and we all looked at Amy with a look that pretty much means ' _good luck answering that one'_.

"When you're older," She grinned, "Anyway, shall we get down to business?"

* * *

So basically our meeting was just about the question we all had since last week's incident:

 _What now?_

First we discussed what we did during our 1 week downtime. I started with mine, since I was the leader of our group of merrymen I tried to research and check what we did wrong with our previous quest. I also checked any news with regards to the other armored individuals around the globe.

"More hunters are showing up each day," I said, "And looks like we weren't the only hunter group that had to fight their first monster in the mall. There's this site I saw, a group called Rose Hunters or something. Looks like other countries are also getting their fair share of inexpensive hunters for hire."

It was Char's turn next, and he explained that he met with Simon Waltz again.

"Besides owing him more than my life," He started, "There was something with the way he used his avatar. I mean, we may be experts with the MH games, but he clearly was an expert with being a real life hunter."

Of course he was. We all agreed that the fact that he has training in actual combat besides video games puts him at some sort of advantage. I mean look at us, 3 kids and 1 adult, all of them geeks in their own right. Waltz was right, he was a professional, and we were just kids playing a game.

"That's why," Char continued, "I asked him to train me in real combat."

And wouldn't you know it, Waltz actually agreed. Slightly envious of my cousin getting combat training from an expert, I decided I should at least start working out.

Then it was Xavier's turn, and he explained how he was researching ways to help us extend our time in our Hunter Avatar forms.

"It's just a theory," Xavier said, "But at least we should keep our DS charged, and train like Char to make sure that our bodies would be more durable and last longer."

Before Amy could take her turn, Yuel raised his hand like a kid answering a question in class.

"I want to know why you guys can transform, but me and Ri can't?"

"I can answer that," Frank said without even flinching.

We all looked at her like she just performed a miracle. I don't know if it was obvious, but Frank, my sister, was the least interested in the MH games before. Believe me, I have tried to encourage her so as to have an additional player in MH3U before, but she didn't like games where you have to grind too much. She preferred simple or straightforward games like GTA, Resident Evil or the Project Diva games.

In other words, why or how on earth would she have an answer to that question?

* * *

With everyone looking at me like I was some herald of the apocalypse, I had to explain to them the recent events that gave me enough information to be more than just their 'guildmarm'(whatever that meant) .

Two days after the incident, I had a brush in with the strange man I met before. This Oscar Chase fellow sent a message to our hunter blog (now titled Raptor Bros. – Hunters for Hire) stating that he had useful information that can, and I quote, 'make our lives easier'.

"That sounds shady," Amy butted in, then gestured go on with her hand when I looked at her. There was something in her face that felt as if she wasn't as suspicious as she says.

Anyway, shady as it sounded, I owed Oscar for helping me sneak through the police officers the other day, so I decided to humor him and sent a reply.

He mentioned a lot of things I didn't understand, so I printed out a copy of the message he sent me so we could review it:

 _ **Hmm, I wonder where I should start. I'm guessing you guys ought to know that I may be partially if not completely responsible for all that is going on. But that story's too long to explain so I'll just try to offer some helpful hints that might help you transition from kids playing Monster Hunter to actual Monster Hunters.**_

 _ **I won't tell you how, but know that I've watched each and every one of you. Especially Mei, I've trained her for a bit before you guys recruited her.**_

We all looked at Amy, and she just waved us off with a swish of her hand, saying "I'll talk about it later."

 _ **First of all, you have to get it in your head that this isn't just a video game anymore. This is an amalgamation of a videogame and real life. Some rules from the game stay, but real life has some advantages and disadvantages to it too.**_

 _ **Dirge, double check your Hunting Horn. The game only allowed you to use three notes depending on the button/s your pressing, but you're not pressing buttons anymore. Experiment, you have a weapon that uses music, imagine what you can do with that.**_

 _ **Relena, you have a transforming weapon! If you can figure out what makes it tick, maybe you can improvise new moves or forms for your charge blade. Char's pretty good with Legos isn't he, a person with a mind like that can work wonders with a transforming weapon.**_

"Wait how did he-" Char scratched his head. It was true than when we were younger, the adults always thought that Char would make a good Architect or Engineer when he grew up. He's made plenty of improvised gear with his Lego toys when we were kids, like an Assassin's Creed inspired hidden blade or a very detailed spaceship(SPACESHIP!)(Yeah that was a Lego Movie reference)

 _ **Saber, youngest but has the highest Hunting Rank. A kid like you might seem the most in danger in a battlefield, but that's what gives you an advantage. You're faster, sharper, and you don't get tired as fast as the adults do. A dual blades wielder, if he uses his personal abilities like that properly, heck you might even unlock the skill to Demonize without draining your stamina!**_

 _ **I almost forgot the twins! Just tell them that they need to spend more time with their hunters if they want to summon them in battle. You need a strong bond with your avatar, after all. Once they've been through enough adventures with their characters, maybe they'll be able to help you in actual combat.**_

 _ **And Arachnid, my number one, and only one pupil. Thank you for giving me a place to stay in when I had just arrived in this place, lost and unstable. You truly are a prodigy, not just in the game but in real life. A genius like you should be the one leading the group, but instead you hang back and snipe, which isn't so bad I guess. Just remember, these people need you. And for your sake, may you find what you need in them.**_

 _ **When the time is right, I will meet you personally. Until then…**_

 _ **…stay alive.**_

* * *

"Before any of you can say anything," Amy stood up, arms crossed like she's about to make a speech, "Oscar was the one who taught me how to play Freedom Unite and 3 Ultimate. We met a long while back."

We just stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Need I say more? He was there when I was at a very low point in my life. In exchange for his company, I let him stay at my home for a while."

"Wait, low point?" Xavier pointed out, "Aren't you a little too young for that?"

Amy ignored this and kept going, "Just after helping me get far in 4U, he left without a word. When the event happened, he came back to help me adjust in being a real life hunter."

"So he gave you tips too?" I asked, curious as to the relationship of Oscar and Amy. I hated competition, but if Amy had a deep regard for Oscar…well, that's going to be a huge cockblock for me. "Just how much does this guy know anyway, could he really be the cause of all this?"

"Just one tip," Amy continued, closing her eyes like she was reminiscing a memory, "He told me that my hunter avatar, and whatever gear she has on, are just tools. The true weapon…" She placed her hand on her chest, over her heart probably, "…is me."

Amy then explained how Oscar told her that while a Hunter's skill comes from his/her armor and weaponry, the fact that our actual bodies, minds, and souls are a part of them gives an additional set of skills.

"Oscar called it _**Personal Skills**_ ," Amy spoke and opened her 3DS, "I don't know how you guys never noticed, but if you open your stats page, there's a button there that lets you view your personal skills. He said that these skills are based on your over-all characteristics and personality, it's basically an added flavor only you can provide to your avatar."

I opened my 3DS to check, and true enough, there were a bunch of skills there I've never seen before. _**Always Horny**_ was the first skill, which explained that I have a permanent Self-Improvement song applied as long as my avatar is combined with me. The other one is _**Song of the Eldest**_ _ **,**_ an 'active' skill with a 'cool down' (what is this, an RPG?) that allows me to play some super-song that applies Attack Up(XL), Defense Up(XL), Health Recovery(L) and Negate Stamina Use to my teammates but not to me.

Char showed us his, and I read and memorized his skills. I need to make sure that I knew what my teammates are capable of after all. First one was _**Combat Frugality**_ which not only gives a skill similar to Rationer(a chance not to use up an item when eating/drinking) but also increases his phial charging speed. The other one is _**Charge Bomber**_ , which sounded a little vague but was described as an active skill where he can unleash a phial overload in the form of an explosive projectile.

Xavier was next. His first skill was _**Hyperactivity**_ , which gives him increased movement and dodge speed when his weapons are unsheathed and gives something similar to Constitution +2. His other skill was an active skill called _**Demonic Warcry**_ , which gives his teammates within and around him demon mode boosts every time he uses his demon mode. When he reaches Archdemon mode while the skill is active,his teammates get boosts from it as well.

Lastly, Amy. Her first skill is _**Wallflower Assassin**_ , which gives her something similar to the Covert skill (Sneak + Load Up) but also negates any deduction to her precision and bullet deviation. Her other skill, which I realized she's been using since we met, was an active skill called _**Widowmaker**_ which gives her next shot, whatever bullet she may use, to have increased damage and piercing ability.

"But how do we **use** our active skills?" Char asked, scratching his head again, "It's not like there's a button we can press for this."

"Don't you guys watch anime?" Amy replied, "You have to focus real hard and really want to use it. Who knows, maybe shouting the move aloud will work."

"That's a hell lot harder than it sounds." Xavier sighed.

I couldn't help but laugh, I can scold Amy about withholding that information some other time, what's important now is that we had new information we can use to truly kick ass in the field. "Looks like some training really is unavoidable, if we want to master using these ' _ **Personal Skills**_ '. Until then, we're still going to do quests if we get any, but we need to be more careful. If a mission seems too hard and impossible, we'll pass it to Capt. Waltz . Real-life monster hunting is a hell lot harder than G-Rank, but at least we got some power-ups to use as well."

"Now all you guys need to do is master those power-ups," Frank grinned.

We all agreed, and for the first time we truly felt connected, a true team one step closer to harmony. I decided to put my hand out at the middle of a table. The others saw my gesture and followed suite, putting their hands on top of mine.

"The Raptor Bros. are back in business," I bellowed, "Fuck yeah?!"

" **FUCK YEAH!** " Everyone echoed loudly as we raised our hands up together. Even Yuri and Yuel and Frank joined in.

"Seriously, though," Amy spoke when we quieted down, "Are we not changing the name?"


	6. Chapter 6: Comeback Kids

Chapter 6: Comeback Kids

 **WHAM!**

Tremors travel through my arm and spread around my body like goosebumps and shivers. The pain makes my hand feel sore but it will eventually fade. At least, that's what I tell myself as the blows keep coming.

 **WHAM!**

 **WHAM!**

 **WHAM!**

My shield stays adamant, but my arm can only manage to keep this up from the barrage. Helplessly, I let my arm fall down, my only source of defense abandoning me. The shield clatters to the floor, making a hollow clang as I wait for the attack to hit me straight in the face.

A strong gust of wind blows at my cheek as the metal baseball bat stops inches away from my face. The person holding the weapon cowls at me, for I have failed him.

"That all you can do?," Captain Simon Waltz frowns as he kicks the riot shield at my feet, "If you can't hold an actual shield properly, how can you expect to withstand blows from those monsters?"

I took the riot shield up again, my arm screaming in agony. I should've just gone with Indigo's workout/training idea. This police officer is treating me like some military recruit.

"Relena can handle taking hits with her shield," I spoke up, "Why do I need to do it to?"

"Because you and her are one, you fight as one don't you?" He replied with a stoic face, "There's a saying that a bond is only as strong as the weakest link. If you're not strong enough to match or surpass your hunter avatar's strength, then you're only pulling her down."

He has a point. I readied the shield, grimacing through the pain, hoping that this training would at least tone my body or something.

I can't afford to be weak like before, I don't want to fail any of our future quests. That's why I need to get stronger.

For my friends, for my family.

And also for money.

* * *

"I've got one question for you," Amy said as she eyed my light-up shoes suspiciously. She wanted to go shopping, both for herself and for our guild.

Of course, I was more than happy to accompany her.

"I swear Amy if you say 'WHAT ARE THOOOOSE?!', I will lose all respect for you." I grinned as she looked at me with a 'how dare you' look. If there was anything I've learned about her during our short time hanging out in the mall, it was that she was just as crazy as me and Char and Xavier were, she was simply good at acting behaved. It was a safe bet that she was beginning to be more comfortable around us.

"Ugh," She rolled her eyes while canvassing some sports equipment we could use at our headquarters, "Why do you get to crack all the corny jokes but I can't?"

I shrugged, I didn't want to tell her that we all had ' _serious businesswoman_ ' as our first impression of her (besides ' _possible ghost-girl_ ') and if she showed that she was capable of being as goofy as I am then our impressions would be broken and that wouldn't be as fun.

She rolled her eyes, "In any case, thank you for going with me. It's not fun walking around with your driver acting like some butler. The last thing I want is to look like those rich kids in animes."

 _That's kind of how I see you though,_ I thought.

"Yeah,well," I grinned, not wanting to look overly happy that she even invited me to begin with, "I honestly thought this was going to be a date."

She looked at me with a sigh and literally face-palmed, "Of course you'd think that. No, this isn't a date."

"Yet?"

Amy raised her eyebrows and did the 'come closer' gesture with her index finger. I bent down, trying to hide a hopeful smile and wondering what she was going to say. Who knows, maybe she was going to give me a kiss?

I ended up kneeling on the cold tile as she punched me in the gut.

* * *

"What's this about, Frank?" Xavier asked, the twins sitting on the floor next to him as we met in the head quarter's living/entertainment room. Both Yuri and Yuel were busy tinkering with their 3DS and playing together in the god-awful game that somehow messed our world up.

"First of all," I stated, bringing out the 3DS that Oscar gave me, "I'm new at this game, but I'm not new at gaming. So don't treat me like a complete newb."

During the whole week that everyone took to rest. I had already met up with Oscar Chase despite of him saying that he will meet us when the time is right. Asking him for help, I was under the impression that he was this expert Monster Hunter and may be able to offer us assistance in battle instead of cryptic hints. In my own way, I wanted to help my brother and cousins in staying alive, and I damn well knew that sitting behind a computer taking mission requests was nowhere near that kind of help.

To be able to fight alongside my siblings, which was what I asked Oscar's help with.

So far all he did was give me a spare 3DS, which looked surprisingly brand new, and told me to choose a weapon to play through at least half the story with. I repeated the story to the three kids in front of me so they would know why I wanted to play with them.

"So you finished the main story?" Yuri asked.

"With Oscar's help,yes," I replied, "But now I need you guys to get me to G Rank, there's a monster I need to fight in it."

"Wait,wait,wait," Xavier butted in, his 2DS in one hand. Having the Nerf armor casing bulking it up, I don't know how he can hold it with just one hand, "What exactly was the weapon you chose, I mean, what role do you want have in combat?"

Role, huh? Oscar asked me the same thing after I created my character. I didn't like being in the front lines completely, so something of a support unit was my main idea, but at the same time I didn't want to be some kind of helpless healer that can't hold her own. So I answered, both to Oscar and to Xavier.

"It's simple… I want to be a mage."

* * *

There was finally a break in training and I was more than happy to plop down on the floor and relax my tired body. All this training better prove to be profitable, especially since Capt. Waltz was giving it to me for free.

"So," I asked the guy who had practically beat the shit out of me, "What's your story?"

"I was struck by lightning," Waltz replied, gulping down an energy drink with a serious face, "and bitten by a cobra."

"Hahaha," I ' _laughed_ ' _,_ perhaps in the most sarcastic way that I could, "No seriously though."

"I'm a police officer who happened to play Monster Hunter games," He grinned, throwing an energy drink at me. My arm could hardly move so I let it hit me in the face. "We were in a cartel-bust operation when the event happened. And yes, I brought my 3DS to a possible shootout."

"I'd laugh but my stomach muscles would hurt too much."

"My co-workers were more than surprised when I kicked down a door while wearing my Nibelsnarf armor, they thought we had newly issued body armor or something."

I smiled. Deep under all that tough act he put, he was pretty much a guy like us. Just someone who knew how to have fun even when the world is going to shit. "You know," I spoke, "We could use an expert like you in our group."

He looked at me like I was delusional, like I just tried to sell him drugs or something. "The only reason I trained you is because I knew you kids won't stop. Might as well give you a fighting chance, I thought. But I will never join your group, besides already being in a team I can't afford to stand alongside kids who'll only get themselves killed. I will not be a part of your suicide squad."

I wanted to chuckle at his reference, but I was honestly pissed. How could he think that we were just dumb kids trying to get ourselves killed?

"We're not idiots," I snapped back at him, "We know damn well what the consequences are. But we have the ability, the weaponry, to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"That's not your job."

"Who cares whether it's our job or not?! At the very least, it's our responsibility," I could hardly believe the words coming out of my mouth. I sounded just like Indigo, and I couldn't help but remember when he tried to protect the kid in the skating rink. He had no powers then, no way to actually save the day…and yet…

To be honest when this all started, all I could care about was taking on quests and selling my carves. I wanted to make as much money as I could. With my father being the only person generating an income, I wanted to help, to alleviate even just a bit of the burden of having to raise a family of eight (I include our three dogs).

I don't know what happened along the way, maybe it was when we lost against the Deviljho or sometime after that. Either way, when I saw all those people running away or trying their best to survive during the monster's rampage… I guess I switched priorities. Of course, I wouldn't say no to some moolah, but I guess that was a secondary priority now.

"I understand where you're coming from," Waltz was putting his uniform back on, "I never said you should look away from people who need help. But you have no idea how painful it is to tell a mother that her son has died in the line of duty."

He opened the doors and was about to walk out, he paused and looked back, like he still had something to say.

Simon Waltz didn't say anything, and walked out.

* * *

Amy and I were having a good time. I was able to convince her to go to the arcade with me so we could unwind a bit. This may not be a date, but I wasn't going to let this mall trip be boring for either of us. Every once in a while, after finishing buying some stuff, especially heavy ones, Amy calls her driver to get the stuff and take it to the car. Hanging out with a kid like this was a very strange experience, and I was definitely enjoying it.

"Hey look," The little girl chilling with me pointed at a standee of Channing Tatum, his abs shining under the lighting, "the new Magic Mike's already showing."

"You wanna watch it?" I asked, wondering if they'd even allow a little girl to watch that movie. I had not seen the first movie and had no idea about this one, but I assumed it wasn't something that you would normally bring a kid to watch with.

"Yeah, but it'd be nice if it was iMax or something," She giggled, making me love her more. Who knew that she liked those kind of movies? "Imagine that, muscular half-naked dudes in 4D."

I stifled a laugh, "Not really my type, as I'm sure you know." She nodded with an understanding grin.

"Well, what would you rather watch?" She said and rolled her eyes, "That Minions movie? Ugh."

I echoed her disgust at the said movie and said that Ant-Man would be more of my choice. I was a superhero-geek since I was old enough to read comics, and still believe even now that I can become a super hero or at least a vigilante eventually. Now that I think about it, I guess all this Monster Hunter madness has brought me one step closer to that.

"You know," I said softly, not wanting to sound desperate, "We can always just watch movies at home. I've got lots downloaded in my external hard drive. We can watch old movies, or indie films, or anything just for the heck of it."

"Is this the same thing as telling me that we'll watch Netflix and chill?" She raised an eyebrow, "'Cause I've been in twitter and tumblr and I know what that means."

I sat on a nearby bench, honestly tired and hoping that maybe just maybe she'd invite me home. I mean I've been there, but we haven't exactly hung out for this long before and I don't want it to end yet. The day's still long after all.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I just…well, I just don't want to call it a day yet. I still want to hang out with you."

"Oh," was all she said, and sat down on the bench next to me.

I almost jumped out in surprise when I felt her slide closer to me. Out of pure instinct I raised my arm and let her snuggle under it. With my arm around her, I looked at the beautiful girl snuggling close to me. She was so quiet I was terrified of what she might do next, was she just setting me up for an attack like what she did this morning? Was she suddenly going to scream and call the security guards on me? What if this was all some cruel prank she was playing, and I was foolish enough to think that a guy like me even had a chance.

Whatever, I thought. Right now, this-whatever this is, is enough. From this close, I could see how smooth her skin is, or how dark her hair is, and her scent…

We both looked up as we heard a loud and terrible crash from a floor down. Standing up quickly, we said nothing to each other and rushed to a nearby balcony that overlooked the ground floor.

The stalls were all scattered as we saw strings of webbing strewn all over the area. People all around were all panicking and running around as some of them get entangled in the web.

"Nerscylla?" Amy asked without looking at me, she had already taken her 3DS out from her bag.

I nodded at her and did the same thing…

When a dark creature zipped past us and knocked me off the ground. The pain was minimal but surprising, and as I slid across the floor I looked over to check on Amy.

She had also been knocked on her butt but looked okay. In between the two of us, leftover strings of web were sticking all over the floor and the walls. The creature that caused it was nowhere to be seen.

"Get to an open space!" I shouted as I ran towards Amy, "We'll have a better chance of fighting it, and you can take advantage of the distance."

We kept running together, aiming for the convention area where concerts and events are usually held. The area was large enough to handle big crowds, and I hoped that it was big enough for the two of us to fight a giant spider in.

"Let's do this-" I started as Amy and I readied our 3DS to summon our hunters, when I felt something heavy and sticky wrap itself around my body.

I looked down on my body to see white,gooey webbing wrapped all around me. All my limbs were bound, and I was basically an upright ball of web with a human head at the top.

 _I'll just transform in the web and break out_ , I thought, but saw that I had dropped my DS on the floor. Arachnid had already been summoned and was about to cut the web open when I felt a violent force yank me backwards.

I struggled to turn towards whatever was pulling at me, and what else should I expect to see?

There's a ginormous, eight legged freak with a mouth thing hanging wide open, waiting for its meal. In this case, the meal is me. There was nothing left to do but scream at it, "YOU FUCKING COCKBLOCK, I swear when I get out of this web-"

I watched as shots are literally fired from the stage area and into the Nerscylla's mouth, which thankfully stopped it from trying to eat me. I rolled out of the way as I watched the gigantic arachnid creep closely to attack Arachnid.

Hehe. Arachnid vs. arachnid.

* * *

"I need to go," Capt. Waltz said hurriedly, putting on his body armor along with his co-policemen. "A monster that fits a Nerscylla's description has been found terrorizing a nearby mall. A black gunman had been spotted holding it off."

Wait, could that be Arachnid? I rushed and kept up with them. If Amy or any of the other Raptor Brothers are there, then they would need my help.

I am the designated tank after all. Warrior Princess Relena. Who is actually a guy.

Capt. Waltz saw me trying to go with them, and held out a hand, "Let the pros handle this."

"That black gunman could be my friend," I snapped at him, ignoring his hand and walking past him.

If they didn't let me ride with them, which was very likely, I had to catch a taxi to go to the mall.

Damn it, why the hell do these monsters love to hang out in malls?

* * *

Take aim.

Fire.

Dodge.

With Indigo still balled up in a web on the floor, I had no choice but to fight the Nerscylla on my own. The heavy bowgun was called a heavy bowgun for a reason, and my god is it heavy.

I rolled out in time as the big spider did a jumping tackle at the stage I was on. Pieces of sound equipment and random chairs started getting cluttered around. I feel sorry for whatever event was previously happening here. That's a lot of cleanup.

Take aim.

Wait, dodge.

Point blank pellet shot at Nerscylla's thorax. Pieces of it's violet spikes shatter as it flinches from my attack.

"How long are you gonna stick around in there, DIPSHIT?!" I shouted at the asshole trying to make romantic advances at me just a minute ago. I was honestly looking forward to rubbing this whole 'helpless in a web' thing at his face later.

"Hold on!" He started squirming inside, as if that would help, then looked at me with what I presumed was the realistic equivalent of the '-_-' emoticon, "Good luck."

If only I had my palicoes, my personal skill would trigger and the enemy would never give a shit about me. At the very least, Dirge could take the heat, if only he wasn't still stuck as a regular human.

 _Maybe only Monster Hunters can free theirselves from those web,_ a thought crossed my mind. I saw Indigo's 3DS laying helpless on the cold tiles, much like its owner.

He saw me looking and nodded at me. I sprinted towards the game console as fast the heavy weapon in my arms would allow me.

I didn't notice the Nerscylla behind me and was honestly surprised as it body slammed me to the floor. My free hand was only inches away from Indigo's 3DS, but the Nerscylla had me pinned. It's mandibles were opening wide and it was only a matter of time before the giant spider chomps on me with it's poison fangs.

I had to think of something, and fast.

* * *

I tried rolling closer to my 3DS, wondering if this was how those roly-poly things in Loco Roco felt like. The only thing I managed to do was get myself towards the back of the stage, which was considerably farther from both the fight and my DS.

I looked over at Arachnid and was shocked to see that the Nerscylla had attacked her with its poison-fang-thingies. Miraculously, Arachnid had used her heavy bowgun as a wedge to keep the fangs from hitting her. It was clearly a losing battle and it was only a matter of time before Arachnid loses her grip on the gun or the gun itself breaks from the pressure.

Eitherway, I had to do something before Arachnid gets chomped on by the same creature she made her armor from. The poetic justice was funny in it's own right, but I had no time to laugh about it. I made a mental note to relay the joke to everyone later when we survive this.

Correction, **IF** we survive this.

* * *

Capt. Waltz must've realized that I was going no matter what, so he let me ride with his troops(?) in their armored vehicle. Regardless of the possible danger my friends were in, I was honestly stoked to be riding in with these SWAT-ish looking guys. And since Capt. Waltz had already transformed to Bellum, and I had transformed to Relena, we had looked all the more bad-ass.

In my opinion, we had arrived in the nick of time.

Indigo and Xavier where nowhere to be seen while Arachnid was busy trying to keep a Nerscylla from biting her with its poison fangs. I wasn't aware that it was Amy who would be lounging around in a place like this, I was honestly expecting Indigo or Xavier to go malling.

But they're not here, and it's pointless trying to call for their help since it would take them half an hour at least to get here.

"Arachnid?!" I asked loudly as I rushed to her aid, with one axe-swing from my charge blade I was able to make the spider flinch and take a few steps back. "I wasn't expecting you to be shopping alone."

"Indi-", She started, then stopped to look around, "Have you seen Indigo?"

"Wait, he's here too?"

Arachnid started spinning and looking around for our oldest member and self-appointed leader, why they were together in the mall is something I would not like to think about right now.

I saw a ball of webbing being hurled toward us and switched to sword-and-shield mode and blocked it in time. The impact from the hit reminds my arm of this morning's training and I struggled not to drop my shield.

I kept my stance as Bellum rains support fire alongside Arachnid, and the other officers scout the area for any civilians. The Nerscylla could hardly move within the bulletstorm it's trapped in, and a trivial plan hatched in my head as I waited for the shooting to stop.

Connect the shield to the blade, just like switching to axe mode.

Activate phial overcharge half-way through transformation and swing the weapon upwards.

The shield disconnects and flies up, spinning madly in the air while glowing with an explosive bright light. Then, as if reading my mind, it nearly hovers, pointing and shooting an energy orb downwards, like some kind of sci-fi sattelite-gun. My body knew what to do without thinking, and I readied my sword as if it was a baseball bat.

Time seems to slow to a crawl, my eyes steady on the enemy while my body tenses and waits for the glowing death orb to be within my reach. The shield was also about to follow down and deep inside I knew that I only had a split-second to catch it.

Here goes nothing.

* * *

Regardless of how he acted like a self-important douche, I was more than happy that Simon Waltz' character, Bellum, was sharing a hellfire moment with me. The flurry of bullets raining down on our helpless foe was very relaxing to watch, and I found myself really having fun even though what we were doing was probably just work to him.

Relena, on the other hand, looked like he was playing. I have no idea what he did, but he ended up flinging his shield in the air. The shield shot down some kind of bomb-looking orb towards Relena, and to my surprise-

" **CHARGE BOMBER!** " Relena screamed at the top of his lungs while swinging his sword like a baseball player going for a home run. The sword hit the bomb-orb as expected and sent it flying straight at the Nerscylla's open mouth.

Then two considerably awesome things happened at the same time:

swallowed the glowing bomb-orb, the Nerscylla exploded with a blinding light from inside, it's guts and other body parts spreading all over us.

shield dropped down like a tiny meteor, smoking and all, straight into Relena's hand. Without flinching, he went back to combat stance like it was no big deal.

"Holy shit," I couldn't help but mutter.

"I know," Relena seconded.

"Not bad," Bellum patted Relena on the back, then walked over to the Nerscylla leftovers. His men had finished checking for civilians and was now in charge of clean-up.

And then I remembered something important and ran off.

* * *

I am going to tell everybody about this.

Xavier and the twins would probably be head over heels about me finally learning how to properly use my active skill. And the shield(!), somehow I caught it without fumbling. This must be the part when I drop the figurative microphone, or something.

If only Indigo was here to see this, we would be shouting endless 'OHHHHHHHHS!' with each other like Mordecai and Rigby.

Speaking of which, where is that guy?

* * *

I got a backstage pass for a beautiful performance.

Or better yet, I accidentally rolled myself completely backstage and missed the whole fight!

"So, you look like you had fun," Amy grinned as she walked closer to me, my 3DS in her hand. Transforming proved unnecessary since the webbing started to disintegrate with the Nerscylla's death.

"Eh," I smiled at her apologetically, rubbing my nearly numb arms, "I was too OP for a Nerscylla anyway."

"You missed Relena's big moment," she said, and I thought she was talking about the explosion I heard and a girl's voice screaming something, "Don't worry."

She showed me her 3DS.

There was a Capture Card.

* * *

"OHHHHHHH!" Indigo, Char, and Xavier shouted together. They were so synchronized I almost thought that the whole shouting thing was scripted.

I must admit though, seeing someone besides my brother acting like a bad-ass every once in a while is a refreshing experience. Meanwhile, I was closer to being able to fight alongside them thanks to Xavier, Yuel, and Yuri's help.

"We didn't know you had a recorder on your eyes," Yuri said with a fascination towards Amy.

"It's a capture card," Amy explains, "It's what youtuber-gamers use to videotape their gameplays. Apparently it incorporates inside my helmet when I transform."

"Wait!" I spoke up as I got an idea, "I got an idea. We can use any videos you take and upload clips at our website. That should boost our rep."

Everyone agreed, once again the group I had found myself in was incredibly cheering up. It was pretty clear that they were all finally recovering from their brush with brutal failure days ago.

Char, on the other hand, was smiling but looked deep in thought.

* * *

I went outside for some fresh air. Regardless of my previous victory and generally awesome way of defeating the Nerscylla at the mall, something was nagging at the back of my head.

It was something Waltz said. Were we really on a road to certain death?

When I saw Arachnid struggling to keep the Nerscylla's fangs from closing in on her, I thought, _What if I failed, just like when I failed to protect my family from the Deviljho_?

I mean, when you think about it, risking your own life is easy… but it was never just about getting killed in battle. In my mind I saw Arachnid getting crushed by the Nerscylla's fangs, reverting back to a 10 year old girl shaking violently from the poison.

What would I tell her father if she died because of my weakness?

That's probably what Waltz was going on about, why he didn't want this road for us. Such a burden was not meant for kids like us.

"Hey,emo bitch," I heard a small voice behind me, and turned to see Amy. She was holding out a sundae, "Thanks for the save a while ago."

I took the sundae, and without knowing it, poured out my disturbed thought onto the little girl while stuffing my face with the sinful indulgence she had given me. I told her about feeling helpless, of seeing dead brothers and friends as a result of my weakness. We were too excited to be heroes, we were bound to end up as martyrs.

"I look like a therapist to you, ass hat?" She replied, but she was smiling, making me think if the same thoughts had crossed her mind, "You want my advice?"

I said nothing. I did nothing. I just looked up and stared at the stars. Huh, I guess I _was_ being an emo bitch.

"When you finished off the Nerscylla with your Charge Bomber a while ago, what were you thinking?" She asked.

"Nothing. I just let my body run on instinct."

"And look how fine things have turned out."

She started walking back towards our HQ, and I walked back with her. If Indigo saw us walking together like this, he'd probably flip, and the thought put a smile on my face.

Indigo did flip out when he saw us enter together, but Amy counter attacked with a "Maybe if you didn't stay helplessly webbed up the whole fight I'd hang out with you" kind of talk. It was fun, and seeing my friends-no, my family like this, it's hard to stay negative.

I sat back down and watched the happy go-lucky kids(and one adult) before me, realizing that when the time comes, I shouldn't be too worried about keeping them safe by myself.

We all keep each other safe.


	7. Chapter 7 : Play Date

Chapter 7: Play Date

"Wake up!" I heard an annoying voice shout, and nearly spun like a top as my older sister pulled the blanket I had twisted myself in. Groggily I sat up and threw a pillow at her. Sometimes I found myself envious towards Char and Indigo, at least they were both the eldest in their families and didn't have to put up with this shit.

My sister's name is Ray, which was fitting since she was very un-lady-like and was always getting on my nerves. I'm pretty sure we had to be kept very far away from each other when we were younger as we were bound to beat one another up when the opportunity arises.

I looked her over, hair tied up in a bob and still in her pajamas, and made a joke about how she'll never get a boyfriend with that personality. She was only a year younger than Frank and was also about to attend college when school kicks in, but just like me looks unnecessarily young for her age. Huh, maybe genetics had cursed us to look like eternal kids or something.

"You're one to talk," she teased back, "I don't see you getting lucky with a girl, runt."

"There's this girl in class," I sneered at her, "And she really likes me." There really is a girl in my class that was kind of enough to put up with my shit. We've been classmates for a while now, and sometimes I feel like she's one of the few things that make school enjoyable.

"Aww," Ray replied with obvious sarcasm, "Your friend sounds cute."

FRIEND?!

I threw another pillow at her, this time with all my strength. She ducked and the pillow hit my Hulk action figure instead, the big green toy tumbling around in the air before falling face first on the floor. I breathe a sigh of relief to see that Hulk had not been smashed.

Hehe, get it? Smashed? Because-

Oh, never mind.

Anyways, sometime later I was logged on facebook and saw that Julie (the girl I was bragging about) had messaged me in the chatbox. She had mentioned that summer vacation was ending soon and her parents got a coupon for a nearby eco-park, so she wanted to hang out and do picnic stuff and all that.

I stared at the message at the computer screen. The eco-park she was talking about was sub-par, as I recall Indigo talking about it once, but I couldn't possibly say no to a potential date. I replied with a subtle 'hell yes' (which was just 'ok cool' when I typed it), and she replied saying something about having extra coupons because her other friends couldn't go.

Huh, it looks like I could invite two more people.

So it's a double date, then?

* * *

"Oh, _that_ eco-park?" I mumbled as Xavier enthusiastically relayed the events of his morning to us. With Char and the twins visiting their grandparents in the province, and Frank staying at home as always, it was just me and Xavier with Amy on her way.

The eco-park he had been talking about was pretty close to our headquarters, and I've been there before during a high school field trip. The place got the whole 'eco' part properly, but there wasn't much to do. There were smaller areas for rock climbing, zip lining, and rappelling, but that's about it. Well, there was a paintball arena but the last time we played there I got a defective gun that had low air pressure, which caused the paintballs to drop to my feet when I shoot. Oh well, I guess it wouldn't be a bad place for a picnic. "Well, are you going?" I asked.

"Hell yeah, I am!" Xavier grinned standing up on a table like he was about to do a speech or something, instead he just raised his fist, "This might be the perfect chance to prove to my special someone just how much I like her. Maybe I can ask her to be my girlfriend during the trip."

I shrugged, it was a good point, as I had been a 13 year old boy before I knew the feeling well. I just hope things would turn out better for him than they did for me. My childhood crush was, let's just say, way out of my league.

"GET THE FUCK OFF THE TABLE!" An adorably pissed off voice shouted, and we both turned to see Amy crossing her arms and looking like a teacher who just caught her students horsing around.

Her mood lightened up, though, when she heard about the picnic. "I've never had a picnic in a park before," She said, "My dad's always too busy and it's not as fun if you have a picnic with your house helpers."

Long story short, Amy and I are going to accompany Xavier and his 'friend' in their picnic. That's not so bad I guess, regardless of how boring I found that place before. Afterall, this time Amy's coming with us. After sucking back at the mall against a Nerscylla (I lost a battle against its web), I could use a redemption move with Amy.

Just like Xavier said: This might be the perfect chance to prove to my special someone just how much I like her. Maybe I can ask her to be my girlfriend during the trip.

I guess it's more or less a double date, then.

* * *

Amy told me to be in my best outfit, which was weird since all she ever did when we first met was get on my nerves. Maybe hanging out with us, especially Indigo got her softening up a bit, but I still kind of get annoyed at the fact that this kid younger than me keeps acting all superior and stuff like that.

My best outfit consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt worn under a white polo, with denim jeans and black canvas shoes to complete the set. Who knows, maybe I could even show Julie my 'armor set'. I think my Seregios armor set is pretty sexy, maybe she would too.

I told Julie over the chat that I would pick her up, but I didn't tell her that we would be riding with Amy and Indigo, with Amy's driver offering us his service. I can't wait to see the look in her face when she sees me pull up their driveway in a limousine!

"Good luck, lover boy," Ray spoke from behind me, grinning like she couldn't believe this day would come, "And don't forget to thank her folks for the coupons."

"Right," I replied, fixing my collar and making sure that I look decent, "Wish me luck."

"I just did, didn't I?" She giggled, "Don't screw up."

I gave her a thumbs up and walked out to Amy and Indigo. My big brother was in a Vision(Avengers: Age Of Ultron) shirt that was clearly a size larger than necessary, with his favorite cargo pants and light-up shoes. Amy was in a short, black sleeveless dress with pink rose patterns on it, topped off with a small vest with a design that reminded me of table cloths.

"Don't worry," I said to my sister, trying to hide my nervousness, "I'll be the first to get a girlfriend before my brothers."

"I heard that!" Indigo butted in and raised an eyebrow. I raised mine in reply and we just stared at each other's raised eyebrow for a minute before Amy and Ray told us to get moving.

* * *

A girl that looked more mature than Xavier greeted him as he rang their doorbell. For someone who was around 13 or 14 years old, she looked like an actual young girl who's only a few steps from becoming an actual teenager. Xavier on the other hand…

"Oh, hello little boy," Amy muttered inside the car with a mock-woman voice, her mouth half-full with a piece of candy she was chewing on. We were spying on them talking outside while waited in the car with the driver. "Did you come here to sell some Boy Scout cookies?"

"They don't look _that_ different from one another," I chided her, taking comfort in the fact that I was finally seeing Amy's true personality. The only time I see her being the formal, business-only girl we met before was when she talked to strangers. With us, she seemed more comfortable and less reserved. "Wait, do Boy Scouts even sell cookies?!"

She shrugged, and I found something adorable with the way she keeps her shoulders up a second longer compared to a regular shrug. It's a weird thing to notice, but one that I really like about her.

Amy must've noticed that I had been staring at her, for I only had a split-second to dodge the piece of candy she had spat out at me.

"Hey that's very unsanitary!" I snapped at her, took the spit-coated candy and shoved it at her face. "Open your mouth! I'll put this back!"

"It's your fault for ogling me, you dirty old man!" Amy resisted, her hands clawing out to stop mine. "Why don't you eat that candy yourself?!"

Wait, was she smiling? Underneath all her tough, bitchy act, was she actually having fun while horsing around with me?

My brilliantly disturbed mind hatched a plan to get the candy back at her, even as a joke.

"Alright, if you won't let me hand it back," I said, grinning my most evil grin. In a swift movement I managed to throw the candy straight into my mouth, and shoved my face dangerously close to hers. "I'll feed it to you straight, like birds to their hatchlings!"

All of a sudden, the car's door opened, revealing a confused Xavier and a very bewildered girl standing next to him. I guess it was only natural, seeing as how the two of them opened the door and saw a grown-ass man pressing his face down on a little girl's, trying to get their lips to connect.

"This isn't what it looks like," Amy and I said at the same time.

* * *

Trees.

Grass.

More trees and more grass. That was the initial summary I'd make for the eco-park. Well there were houses and cabins and park areas where lots of vendors lounge around to sell you food and random shit. A lot of people must have been given promo coupons as the main areas were packed and crowded. Amy's driver dropped us off at the main entrance while waiting for a place to park in.

"Ugh, people," Indigo groaned as he helped Amy off the car. I knew a thing or two about being a gentleman and did the same thing. Julie smiled and thanked me as I held my hand out to her.

She took my hand, sending warm feelings to more than one place in my whole body, "I didn't know you had a big brother," Stretching under the fierce sunlight, I couldn't help but look her over and marvel at the sight before me. As awkward and cheesy as it sounded, she looked nothing short of beautiful, standing in front of me in a blue and white dress; flower designs were seemingly embroidered on the bottom edges. Black tights (or leggings, I don't know) covered her legs, with purple (violet?) doll shoes to finish her set.

"Control yourself!" Amy shouted, and smacked me ferociously on the back. I was caught off guard and nearly fell face first on the ground. I sneered evilly at her, vowing to get back at her once I get the chance.

"And a younger sister," Julie giggled as she watched me and Amy stare each other down like anime characters with lasers coming out of their eyes.

I took a deep breath and concentrated on the girl whose heart I needed to win over, "The dude's my older cousin, he's Indigo, like the color."

Indigo waved at her. I wondered why we never did introductions in the car, we all just sat in awkward silence.

"The girl, wellllll…" I mumbled, dragging out the last word while thinking of a good intro for Amy. Should I tell Julie that we met her while getting attacked by flying wyverns on a train? Or maybe I should tell her that Amy hired us to exterminate a Narga at her family business' warehouse.

"I'm dating her-" Indigo started but was cut off when Amy elbowed him in the gut. Julie and I stared curiously as he keeled over in the ground, clutching his stomach.

Amy cleared her throat while fixing her vest, "Forgive us for the confusion, Indie here is a friend of my father's. He asked me to accompany you and scout the premises for any place to build a wildlife preserve."

Wow, that's actually pretty smart, Amy mentioned reading a petition in the internet for a wildlife preserve for monsters. To think that she'll use it as a cover story…

"Wow," Julie smiled at her, "That's kinda cool."

"Our company cares for all aspects of nature," Amy grinned, "Even those that are out of this world and considerably dangerous." She sat on Indigo's still immobile 'corpse' on the ground, and waved us off, "You lovebirds go ahead, I'll drag this senior citizen around while surveying the area."

 **LOVEBIRDS?!**

I waved both my hands and laughed in a subtle attempt to pass it off as a joke, at least Julie seems to think that it is. To my eager surprise, she took my hand and we walked towards the park.

Here's hoping for a fun, sweet, and MONSTER-FREE picnic.

* * *

"So we're having our own picnic, huh?" I asked the little girl in front of me. After letting Xavier and his friend (Julian, was it?) walk off for their hopefully romantic picnic, she had dragged me to less crowded area and started preparing picnic-related stuff. While she laid out a checkered mat on the grass, I looked around and saw that our place was on a slightly elevated area, and gave us a view overlooking the other people. I saw Xavier and Julian walking together and sitting on a wooden table where a family had just left.

I looked back and was surprised to see that Amy had a pair of binoculars by her face. She had also set up a digi-cam up on a tripod.

"I'm going to record every awkward moment of him," She rubbed her palms like an evil boss, "It's only a matter of time before he screws up in front of his crush, and I'll make sure to rub it in his face when that happens."

How was I supposed to react to that? So I just did whatever a good brother would do.

"Let me see," I replied, taking the binos from her, "This should be fun."

* * *

"Wow," Julie smiled while looking around, and handed me a ham and egg sandwich she had prepared, "I didn't expect this much people today. Especially with all these monsters popping up all over the news. "

I nodded and took a bite. It was heavenly. Well it tasted as expected from a ham and egg sandwich, but she made it, so you know. "I'm not worried much about those monsters, I mean, haven't you seen all these mercenaries and hunting groups that take 'em out regularly?"

"Oh yeah," She took out two bottles of bottled soda and handed one to me. I took it like it was such a sacred object, "Although after seeing that mess from weeks ago, it doesn't look like all of them are as reliable."

 **Was she talking about our failure against the Deviljho?!**

If my life was an anime, this is the part where an imaginary arrow hits me at the head and I bleed indefinitely. I can't believe that the only thing she remembers from the Raptor Bros. is that D-jho fiasco.

"Well," I stuttered, trying to make our team look better without looking obvious that I was secretly a member, "Have you heard about the one where those guys fought off two flying monsters while on a train?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's pretty cool," She touched her chin like a detective in contemplation, "But either way, it's still scary knowing those things are out there, you know?"

This is it, I thought, my chance to wow her with my bravado. Just try not to act like a complete douchebag.

"Don't worry," I said, acting all tough and heroic and gentleman-like, "If any of them attack us, I'll protect you." I inched closer and, hesitating at first, put an arm around her.

She must've noticed what I was trying to do, and tilted her head down, looking what I assumed was bothered and uncomfortable. I pulled my arm back like I was Monkey D. Luffy and just acted like I was trying to reach something behind her.

I wanted to bury my head in the ground, what was I thinking, making a bold move like that?

Great, now there was an awkward silence between us, a quietness so great it was deafening and overpowering against all the other noises around us.

At least, until a different noise came up. A collection of screams started making its way toward us, and I had to move fast to get Julie and myself out of the way of a rushing crowd. I pulled her close by a nearby tree and we held on to the trunk as we waited for the light stampede to finish.

After what seemed like an eternity, most of the people had managed to leave and the picnic area had been left bare like it was a zombie-pocalypse movie. Backpacks and picnic baskets were left scattered about, with food all around us half-eaten and half-stomped on. Besides us, there was only one living thing left in the middle of the picnic area.

A gigantic green gorilla sat on its ass nearby one of the abandoned tables, taking every leftover food and shoving it in its mouth. It spits some of the food out and stands up to go to a different table, scratching its baboon-like ass as it walks.

It's an Emerald Congalala, and it has ruined my date.

And now, it will pay.

* * *

"Should we help?" Amy asked, looking through the binoculars. She was laying down on her stomach, as expected from our designated sniper, but I was worried that she'd get grass stains on her cute dress. I thought hard about it, but knowing Xavier and Saber, I'm well aware that he's more than capable of handling an Emerald Congalala.

Besides, sometimes you gotta let someone have space for his bravado.

"No, let's just watch," I sat down and munched on a pack of potato chips that I bought from a nearby convenience store, pretending that it was popcorn and we were watching a film. "This would be a good time for him to show his crush just how good he is."

Amy looked at me, her grin hiding the somewhat surprised look on her face, then looked back through the binos, "Hmph. Boys. Always out to prove something."

"Yeah," I smiled as I watched my cousin step in front of the Eme-Conga, his arm stretched out as if to say ' _Stay back!_ ' at his girl (who is also a friend). "We always need to compensate for our low self-esteem."

I know that our most important rule is to stay as anonymous as possible when fighting monsters, keep as small amount of people as possible who knew the Raptor Bros' identities.

So, Xavier, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna pull a Bat-Man or an Iron-Man?

* * *

The giant jade monkey eyed us with evil intent, it was clearly making this area its territory, and we are in its way. Running away would probably be easy enough, as I doubt this creature is malicious enough to try to kill us as long as we yield to it; but this is a monster, and official job or not it's my responsibility to keep it from harming anyone else.

Besides, Julie's here, and this is my perfect chance to show her how badass I am.

Although, Indigo said that it's best if our identities were kept as secret as possible. But at this rate, I won't be able to just find a place to hide and transform. Could I afford to let Julie know that I'm a real life Monster Hunter?

Should I be like Batman or Spider-Man, hiding my identity as much as I can, especially from the ones I care about? Or should I be like Iron-Man, flaunting my alias like it was no big deal?

I don't have much choice anyway, I can't afford to leave Julie's side at a time like this. I took my 2DS out and woke it from sleep mode. The bright light from its screens were a welcome illumination.

"Why are you turning that gadget on now?" Julie asked, clearly in panic but frozen in terror.

"Look, I have to be honest with you," I told her, unable to look her in the eye, so I just stared at Saber standing inside my 2DS. His golden Regios armor shining brightly and smoothly, like a newly polished blade. The eyes of my hunter avatar are hidden under the helmet, but I can feel him beckoning me, beckoning _us,_ to be one. "I wasn't kidding when I said I would protect you."

Julie's arms instinctively covered her face as a bright light emanated around me. I could feel my body becoming someone else- _something_ else, yet still feeling and knowing that it's me. The weight of the armor on my new body was nowhere near heavy, it was as comfortable as the clothes you wear to sleep.

I am Xavier.

I am Saber.

I am a Monster Hunter.

"And you, green goblin," I shouted at the ape, pointing the right-hand blade of my Wrackful Gemini at him. "You're fucked."

* * *

I watched my brother act all gangster towards the Emerald Congalala, pointing at it with a curved dual blade. Although, in my opinion, it would've worked better with a straight-bladed sword.

The monkey, or ape or whatever, seemed to have accepted the challenged. It had started shaking its ass in its own fart-induced version of twerking.

"Stay back! Let me handle this!" Saber shouted at Julie, and charged at the monster. The Eme-Congalala followed suite and charged at Saber with a right hook punch, but Saber somersaulted in a split-second before its fist can hit him.

Before the Congalala can even register what happened, Saber pulled off a dash-slash at its foot, making it jump back in surprise. It spun around to look for Saber, but he had already moved towards a nearby tree and started climbing it. Just as the Conga looked up towards him, Saber dove straight down with his blades by his sides, and started spinning in a way the reminded me of Levi Ackerman from Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan).

The monster-monkey covered its face with its hairy arms, which caused it multiple lacerations from Saber's attack. Before the monster can even check how much bleeding cuts its arm has sustained, Saber spun quickly on the ground and threw one of his blades like it was an Olympic discus.

Imagine that you are a 10-foot tall gorilla, now imagine that someone had just jumped off a tree and went helicopter blade on your arms. Now imagine him throwing a spinning blade of doom toward your face. If it hits your eyes, you'd go blind and bleeding in an instant. It could also hit your nicely-styled hair, and break it into a crappy bush that would make all the other Kongs laugh at you.

You have two seconds, which would you save, your eyes or your hair?

The Emerald Congalala is a smart one, choosing to save its eyes instead of its hair. It ducked at just the right time that I could swear it was by pure luck. The spinning dalamadur-blade of doom sliced cleanly through its horn-like comb, breaking it and giving the monkey a real 'bad hair day' look.

Without even looking, Saber caught his blade like a boomerang and ducked just as a gigantic and literal piece of shit flew over him.

"Hell hath no fury," I snickered, watching Saber sprint towards the Conga and assault its tail with a barrage of slashes, "Like a guy who just had his date ruined."

* * *

I could feel my body getting lighter and lighter, and sometimes it's like the whole world slows down around me. This must be my passive personal skill, Hyperactivity. There was a rush in my veins, making me think of Quicksilver and The Flash, and knew that I wasn't just getting faster.

I was also getting furiouser. I mean, more furious. In demon mode I had no problem dashing through all of the enemy's attacks and punishing it with multiple slashes after I dodge. The game might not have allowed us to inflict 'Bleed' on our enemies, but real life just gave me a new status effect I could use.

The gigantic green ape was scrambling away from me, probably to eat a mushroom, leaving a small trail of blood as it drags itself through the grass. I decided to give it a slight advantage and use this down time to help Julie up.

I unsheathed my weapon and held a hand out to the beautiful girl I swore to protect. She looked unsure of whether or not I was trustworthy, even though I transformed right in front of her. Hmm, it was probably because of the monster blood on my armor.

"Hey, it's me," I said gently as I gave her my hand. Hearing my voice, she took my hand and I helped her up. It felt weird that I had the body of an adult right now, and acting all knight in shining armor with a 13 year old girl. Indigo would get a kick out of this, good thing he and Amy hung out somewhere else and wouldn't see us like this.

"You're…" She mumbled, her fingers tracing the Seregios scales on my armor, "You're one of them? An armored individual?"

"A Monster Hunter," I replied, my gloved hand caressing her cheek, "Codename Saber. Everthing's gonna be ok now."

Just as I said that, I heard a low rumbling on the ground, and we both looked to see the Emerald Congalala galloping on all fours toward us. I knew what it was going to do next, and carried Julie in my arms.

The gorilla jumped unbelievably high to crush us with its stomach, covering us in its large shadow as it lets gravity do its job.

I ran and went for my best imitation of a superman dive, with Julie in my arms it wasn't easy. A loud boom echoed as the ground nearly broke apart from the weight of the Congalala. I twisted around in mid-air, making sure that the landing would only impact me and not the girl I was holding. The gust from the Congalala's crush attack was stronger than I thought, blowing us away and sending me careening across the ground. Soil and grass went flying all around us and I was afraid Julie would get all dirty by the time this was over.

"You okay?" I asked as we both got to our feet, brushing off dirt and grass from our clothes. Well in my case, armor.

"This'll be a pain to wash off," She replied, looking at her stained dress. "But I'm okay. You?"

I gave her a thumbs up, "I'm fin-"

Suddenly a gripping pressure painfully built up around my torso and I felt myself being flung backwards. Everything felt like it was in slow motion, the Emerald Congalala's tail unwrapping my body as it sends me flying, the horrified look on Julie's face as she watches me get thrown away, and my hands helplessly flailing as I crash painfully on the ground.

I lay on the ground, writhing, gasping for breath as the wind got knocked out of my lungs. My body ached all over, screaming for me to just run and wait for backup. I looked around and saw Julie cornered by the gigantic green gorilla, the monster eyeing me like it knew what it can do to truly hurt me.

It looked away from me and stared at Julie. It inched closer, and Julie fell down on the ground, trying to back away from the monster.

I slammed my fist on the ground, and tried to prop myself up.

The Congalala inched closer.

Slowly, and as much as my body would allow, I got up. Gritting my teeth, ignoring the pain, I unsheathed my weapons and started sprinting towards my enemy.

One foot in front of the other. Slowly, then quickly.

Faster.

And faster.

Without any activation whatsoever, I felt the surge of strength of an archdemon coursing through my veins. I can feel my body getting lighter, faster, wilder…

Stronger.

My mind was becoming blank, letting my body do what it knows best. The pounding of the ground beneath my legs was all that mattered. All of my thought processes, I shut down, leaving only one directive:

Kill.

* * *

"Now _that's_ our berserker." I couldn't help but smile as I watched my younger brother sprinting towards his target. His body was glowing with a crimson aura, making him become a dark, bloody blur as he gets closer to his enemy.

And then, he jumped.

Not just any jump, from where I was standing I could see that he had jumped higher than the Congalala's head, making it gaze up at him as he soared above it, his blades and armor gleaming under the sun. It was like there was a red, shining knife coming down from the sky towards the Emerald Congalala.

Then the knife came down.

It was so quick, just a crimson blur crashing down to where the Congalala stood. Unquantifiable amounts of cuts tore the enemy apart. Pieces of flesh flew around and blood splattered as the Emerald Congalala was torn asunder.

By the time it was over, Saber was standing with his back to the Emerald Congalala, or what was left of it. The remains of the monster looked like it had been fed to a river full of piranhas.

"Did you get that on tape?" I asked Amy, but she didn't answer. We were both dumbstruck with…whatever just happened.

* * *

"I'm sorry you had to see that," I started, watching my armor dissipate from me. My legs gave way and I felt myself falling.

A pair of arms caught me, and I looked up to see Julie smiling worriedly at me.

"I'm sorry you had to do all that," She said, her eyes tearing up. She managed to hold back her tears and hugged me instead. Her hug brought back all the pain I thought had gone with the armor, but it was worth it.

"Anything…for you," I said in between heavy breaths, knowing that if either Amy or Indigo heard this they'd call me corny or cheesy, but I don't care anymore. It must be the adrenaline, I suppose.

She let me sit down on a nearby bench, only now can I hear the sirens of ambulance coming from afar.

"I'm really glad that I've got you," She said with an earnest smile, "A Monster Hunter, huh… Not the kind of surprise I expected from a friend like you."

Friend,huh? So that's how it is.

"Look," I grimaced through the pain as I held her hand in mine, "I think it's pretty obvious that I want to be more than just a friend."

She looked away from me, and stared into the horizon, "I know." Julie hesitated for a while, and then continued, "But I'm just…not…ready yet. I mean, we're still kids!"

I felt my shoulders slumping and I tried to keep myself upright.

"Hey," She put her arm around me, catching me off guard, "There's no need to rush. You're my friend, and I'm yours. Something tells me that's all we need right now. Who knows, maybe when things change, and we find ourselves needing something…more, well maybe we'll both be old enough by then, right?"

I looked at the same horizon she was looking at, admiring the sun shining at us above the clouds. I looked at the beautiful girl smiling next to me, still adorable even after all this mess we just went through. I'm with her and she's with me, yeah, I guess that's all that matters right now.

"Right."


	8. Chapter 8: Suffer the Little Children

Chapter 8: Suffer the Little Children

Going back to my office was a considerably boring chore, especially since I had better 'work' to do. If only my real life monster hunting with the rest of the Raptor Bros. was more financially rewarding, I could probably quit my job as a marketing assistant of a school supplies company and just go full-on mercenary being hired to hunt down or capture Mother Nature's way of saying 'Fuck You Humans.'

I sat down in front of my desk, hoping our new website notifies my smart phone that we have a real job to do. Seeing no prompts, I turned my PC on, put on my headphones, and blasted Mind Over Matter by Young The Giant.

 _And if the world don't break_

 _I'll be shakin' it_

 _'Cause I'm a young man after all_

Slouching in my swivel chair and letting my mind run on its own, I let the flow of the music dictate my mood while I started typing emails for my clients. If I keep this up, soon the whole day will be over and I'll be back to playing video games, even for just a short while. These are just the motions, and I will just go through it. When I think about it, this wasn't really what I wanted for my career. Marketing and Business Ad was a considerably easy course for me in College, and I guess that meant I was designed for this kind of work, but it wasn't where my heart was, it wasn't _**who**_ _**I am**_. It was too late when I realized that my feelings for children were more than platonic, and maybe if I accepted who I truly was sooner I could have turned my life around. Maybe I could go around as a professional photographer and be like Jock Sturges or Charles Dodgson(Lewis Caroll). Or maybe I could write a good novel about an interesting relationship like Vladimir Nabokov did. There ain't much fun to be had with my work, sure it's easy, but I'm not having as much fun as when I'm waving my Hunting Horn around or exchanging toilet humor with Amy and my cousins.

 _And when the seasons change_

 _Will you stand by me?_

' _Cause I'm a young man built to fall_

Fighting my boredom and general laziness, I pictured Amy in my head. For someone who I just met less than a month ago, I like to think that we were getting closer. Not just her and I, but her and the whole group in particular. Thinking back, when we first met she was this no bullshit business woman in a ten year old's body who has some kind of superiority complex. No matter what we were doing, from Monster Hunter to Animal Crossing, she had to be better than all of us. Which shouldn't be too hard for her, I guess, God seems to have blessed her with the 'Genius Asian Kid' stereo-type.

In fact, much as I like her as much as the next little girl, I have to admit that I felt a little threatened by her in the beginning. She was the kind of kid who was self-sufficient, who wouldn't let me take care of her or protect her or anything. I was nothing but a nuisance in her eyes, which was unspeakably painful for an _avant-garde pedophile_ like me (I made up that term).

Looking around, I noticed that nobody else was in the office yet. Unsurprising, considering I always arrive at work 1 to 2 hours ahead of call time. This gives me enough time to squeeze in some gaming with my 3DS, and for this morning I was busy playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. I was busy grinding Dunban's affinity with Melia and Sharla when a piece of A4 paper flew at me from my officemate's desk.

Lily, that girl is always so messy. She was kind of my best friend/partner in crime in the office, being the one of the few people to take my 'condition' to heart. In the same vein that some group of friends are aware that a certain member is a nerd or a geek or a jock or a hipster or whatever, Lily was in my group of office friends who knows about my…sexuality. Most of the time, it was just a running gag in the office that I was the baby-faced, child-minded guy. Oh I'm child-minded all right, nothing else is in my head. Besides video games I guess.

Anyway, mindless musings aside, I gave the paper a once over. It was a proposal letter for an elite all-girls private school. It was for the school's foundation day, and Lily (being a brand supervisor in charge of school events) managed to score a sponsorship in the form of product give-aways and workshops for the elementary students.

"You realize what this means right?" I told no one in particular, when I was alone I had a tendency to 'think out loud'. "Yeah," I replied to myself, "A good opportunity to make some friends."

I snickered like a creep, knowing that there are far better reasons than 'make friends' in my agenda for such an event. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm not a criminal and I'll never hurt a child, but my existence relies in a good balance between my love for kids and my lust for them. One cannot exist without the other, for I am a human paradox. Or something like that.

An idea came to my head, and I wondered if I could convince Lily to bring me along. Doing sponsorship events was also part of my job (maybe the only redeeming part of it), but I was in charge of sponsorships with businesses and professional clients instead of schools. Schools, especially elementary and below, are Lily's mandate.

"You look like someone who just explained their supposedly intriguing lifestyle to an uninterested audience," speak of the devil, I heard Lily as she came in looking clean and pretty as usual. In my opinion, her appearance was the complete opposite of her attitude, as she always has a tendency to keep her desk untidy and has lost some of my pens and staplers before. She must've had her hair colored since it was looking a shade of red and I know she's a brunette. Her uniform, since she handled a different brand from me, was a dark green polo with white linings, while I wore a white version of the same polo with red linings.

We went to our usual pre-work banter, which isn't much since we just talked about what books we were reading or anime we were currently watching. In between I was able to mention her latest sponsorhip event and made it obvious that I wanted to come and help out.

"Hmm," she pondered, "Well I really don't have much choice, since the other brand managers took all the other coordinators who usually accompany me. I could use an extra pair of hands."

"Awesome," I replied with a grin. This should be an incredibly memorable event for me, here's hoping that no monster or mission whatsoever ruins that for me.

* * *

Sigh.

Everyone keeps on acting like this school year would be different, that things would be more fun and exciting, but everywhere I look it's just the same bullshit over and over again. The subjects and lessons may seem different and harder, but in a second glance they're just as easy the previous ones. The only reason they seem difficult is because you're not used to it, that's why older people have an easier time doing 4th grade mathematics.

Technically, I guess I should be having a hard time with my new subjects, but it's not my fault all these come naturally to me. I can't help it if I find it easy to solve complicated math problems in my head.

Sigh. If only they allowed me to advance to a high school or college-level curriculum, maybe my school life would be a bit more exciting.

A girl who looks roughly my age waves at me as I enter our class room. The white-board has ' **WELCOME 5-A 2015** ' written on it like it was a big deal. For a school that was exclusive and considerably expensive like ours, this was surprisingly tame. The school itself had a lot of function rooms, plus a covered court for sports-related activities, numerous parking spaces, and we even have our very own amphitheater. I decided to ignore the meaningless message and focus on whoever waved at me.

I look at the unnecessarily cheerful girl and inspected her from head to toe. If Indigo was here, he would probably drop dead as even I could see that she was gorgeous.

A brown-ish hair with curls all over adorned her small round face, giving her a 1940s look like those girls you see in WWII movies. She was wearing our uniform, which was a combination of a white longsleeve polo and a pink checkered skirt. In my case, though, I always wear a black argyle vest above my uniform. She was just the same height as I am, so I can say that she's not a very tall girl. Her eyes were an adorable shade of blue, which somehow made her look two years younger than me. She smiled at me and I noticed that she was missing a front tooth, making me wonder if she was still losing baby teeth or if this was permanent.

If she lost her tooth from a fight, I am going to give her a high five.

"I'm Claire!" She rushed in closer and took both my hands, "And you are?!"

Better than you.

At least, that's what I was tempted to say. It took all my strength to hold down my brutally competitive streak and play nice. I don't really understand why I felt like I should be better than everyone all the time, but then again I don't really care.

"Ai Mei," I replied, faking the best smile I could. I don't have anything against her, but I just don't feel as enthusiastic as she does. "Everyone calls me Amy. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Wow," she said, plopping down her seat, which happened to be next to mine, "You talk like a grown-up."

Or maybe you just think like a baby.

Just in time, the other students came in and I was saved from a lengthy conversation with Little Miss Sunshine. She was technically a new student, transferring in from another school nearby. Claire must've been the only new student as everyone else I saw were the same from last year. Typical questions were asked since she was new, like what she thinks of our school or if she was okay with it being an all-girls school.

Contented with the white noise my classmates were making, I sat on my chair, overlooking the window from the second floor similar to most anime protagonists and their class seat. Looking out the window, I could see most of the school grounds, especially the basketball/volleyball court/assembly area. I noticed that there was a pick-up type van parked nearby, and that a bunch of people were setting up banners and floor mats and other paraphernalia. Looks like there might be some kind of event today, too bad it's no book fair though.

Hmm?

That brand, wasn't that one of the brands owned by the company Indigo was working for? I wonder if he's acquainted with whoever's in charge of this event. Oh well, we're bound to be sent there later on anyway, here's hoping it'd be less boring than whatever the lesson would be today.

* * *

"INDIE!" Amy shouted, pointing at me like I was a criminal. For a moment I remember Phoenix Wright's ' **TAKE THAT** ' motion. "What the f-, I mean what are you doing here?"

All the other girls in her class looked at her with a curious, and honestly worried look. Was it that big a deal for a kid here to shout and point fingers?

Also, "Don't call me Indie," I remind her. The other girls start whispering with one another. Amy flashed them a look and they all quieted down. Hmm, I guess she flashed them a glare, then. "I'm with Lily over there, we're in charge of today's workshop."

I pointed at Lily who was fixing up the projector. She noticed us and waved at me and Amy. The kids look on us quietly, like they were watching a tv show or something.

In any case, the workshop was to begin soon so I had Amy and her classmates take a seat. Everyone else seems to ignore her, and was more talkative and interested with the girl sitting next to her. Compared to Amy, this girl (who I overheard was named Claire) was like her exact opposite. She looks younger and honestly cuter, like she still wasn't finished being a toddler. What struck me the most, was the fact that her curly hair, combined with her rosy cheeks and fair skin, kind of reminded me of a famous child actress from a long time ago.

Trying not to fall for her, or any of the other girls in Amy's class, I proceeded to help out with whatever Lily needed help with. Things like setting up banners, or handing out colored pens and papers to the children. It was a considerably easy chore, but when you think that you'll be doing this to plenty of other classes from 4th to 6th grade continuously kind of makes you feel the actual burden of it. Not that it bothers me, of course, since I will be around children 99% of the time and therefore my willpower shall be limitless.

Another advantage, at least for someone like me, is that all the kids are sitting down on our floor mats cross-legged. Since all of them are girls wearing skirts, you can expect to see what internet experts call an 'upskirt' in just the slightest movements. Considering their age range, I was surprised that a lot of them were still considerably immodest and didn't really try to cover their selves much when moving or adjusting.

"Having fun?" Lily asked while we waited for the kids to finish their artworks.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Noticing a movement by my peripherals, I turned to see Claire adjust her legs and well, you know, get a good look.

Damn, now I sound like a creepy old dude.

Regardless of what I said, I was wrong when I simply expected Claire to adjust herself. She must've gotten tired of sitting cross-legged, so she put both her knees up by her chest and sat with both legs slightly stretched out.

Which would've given me a very good look at her panties or undershorts or bloomers or whatever else kids wear under their clothes these days. Most of the other girls in Amy's class seems to wear what's called a pantylet which was basically like boxers but feminine.

However, I didn't see any of those.

Because she wasn't wearing any.

* * *

I looked up, feeling the surroundings. I thought I felt a slight tremor in the ground I was sitting on and had to check if there was any monster on its way. Thinking back to that time I saw Dirge and Saber and Relena babysit that researcher guy and his eggs, I felt a similar tug of unease in my guts and heard a very weak flapping of wings. If today was any similar to that time, it could mean that we have a monster nearby.

Or I could just be paranoid. After all, my 3DS was in my bag, which was left in the classroom. I couldn't risk it being confiscated.

I looked over at Indigo to see if he had felt anything, and was surprised to see him bending down and holding on to a railing like he had just suffered a heart attack. Could it be that we both felt something ominous coming our way? Or perhaps he was just suffering from one of the many illnesses people his age usually have?

Lily said something to Indigo and walked towards me. As it turns out, she was walking towards Claire, and told her to sit properly.

Indigo's coworker walked back and he gave her a 'What the hell?!' look, the same look he gives us when Xavier and I argue endlessly in a chaotic banter, or when he loses against Yuri in J-Stars or Smash Bros. (Yuri was considerably the least practiced gamer out of all of us, so he was kind of our weakest link especially when he's not with Yuel)

"Wow," Claire said in an annoyingly loud way, getting near my face, "That's a nice drawing, what is it?"

I show her my doodle of a cyborg Rajang. It had mounted cannons on its arms, and a back-up generator on its back.

"I call this The Impending Doom," I murmured. "Or maybe I should call it An Exercise In Futility?"

"Is that a monkey?" She looked mesmerized by my crappy art, "Ooh, call it Robo-Kong!"

"Go fuck yourself." I replied in an instant, and took a second to realize what I had done.

"Ooh, you swore," Claire giggled, tried to put her knees up again, then looked like she remembered something and went back to sitting cross-legged, "Don't worry, I won't tell on you."

I couldn't help but sigh, and decided to just go back to my doodle and upgrade Robo-Kong.

Oh shit, now that name's stuck in my head.

* * *

I slowed down my heartbeat and began distributing coloring papers for the kids to do next. Trying my best to calm down, and ignore the words _vertical_ and _smile_ that my brain keep throwing at me, I managed to finish this task and didn't even panic when I gave a paper to Claire. While I was at the last row, one of the other girls pulled on my shirt.

"You know Amy?" The girl asked. The other girls beside her started to take interest and looked at me.

"Kind of," I replied, appreciating a distraction from the bald kitten that I saw a while ago.

"We didn't know she had friends." One of the other girls commented.

"Why, doesn't she have any in the class?"

The other girl shook her head, "She's always serious and formal. It's not that we hate her, she just seems so…scary. Plus she's kind of a prodigy which makes her kinda scarier. Everyone else just tries to get out of her way."

Huh. Then again I probably shouldn't be so surprised.

"She's a pretty cool kid," I replied. Amy would probably hate me if I told her classmates that she was a gamer, so I thought they should find that out on their own. "Give her a chance."

They seemed content enough with what I said, so I walked back and noticed that Claire looked like she wanted to say something. I went to her, trying not to think of her crotch while also trying to come up with a good vagina pun.

I failed both mental exercises, and ended up doing nothing as I kneeled down next to the girl who nearly gave me a heart attack.

She looks at me with squinty eyes, as if trying to read my mind, "Are you Amy's boyfriend?"

insert heart attack here

Somehow, I managed to keep my cool and didn't faint right then and there. I needed to keep my image as a calm and collected leader of the Raptor Bros.

"Why'd you say that?" I asked, trying not to seem like a pussy. Hehe, pus-you know what, never mind.

"She keeps looking at you."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Amy butted in, trying not to be too loud.

"Is that so?" I asked Claire, but kept my eyes on Amy. She was clearly under fire from this kid, and I plan to make the most out of this. That's just how we Raptor Bros. are, we got each other's backs in the battlefield, but we make sure to socially humiliate one another when we get the chance. "Sorry Claire, but we've only dated twice."

Claire giggled like…well like a schoolgirl. It reminded me of those females that just go 'Eeeeee' while watching a chick flick.

"Did you kiss yet?" She asked, managing to stop Amy from covering her mouth.

"Well…" I started, but was stopped when a piece of crumpled paper landed inside my open mouth. I had no choice but to spit out what looked like a robotic monkey killing someone with a…musical hammer?

What the heck kind of drawing is this? Oh wait, there's a title at the bottom, and was surprisingly readable even with my drool all over it.

Robo-Kong kills Hunting-Horny-Hunter. What the fuck.

Before I could even comment on the crappy drawing and even crappier title, the ground started rumbling and shaking. It was weak and slow at first, then started getting faster and stronger. It was almost like something was running from somewhere far and was getting closer and closer to us.

I look at the drawing I spit out, it almost looked like a Rajang fighting my hunter avatar Dirge. This isn't some kind of foreshadowing is it? Because I know for a damn fact that I wouldn't stand a chance against a Rajang, especially if it's got robotic parts in it.

The tremors get violently stronger and most of the children were screaming and huddling together. Their teacher, who was very passive until now, ran up to us.

"Is this an earthquake?" The teacher asked, "'Cause we're already in the basketball court, so we just need to wait here right?"

"I think so, yeah," Lily replied, trying not to panic. The tremor gets even stronger, although in my opinion, louder and closer are more appropriate ways to describe it.

"Good," the teacher continued. Only now do I realize that she looked young for a teacher. It was safe to say that we were close in age. Her glasses were the most noticeable part of her face, with the next part being her brunette hair tied up in a bun. The teachers' uniform, which resembled a green and salmon version of a stewardess' uniform, made her look slightly more mature and 'older'. She looked around, adjusted her glasses, and said, "Our chances of survival are at the very least 80% in this place."

Not exactly something I'd say in front of kids, but hey, nobody's perfect.

The teacher looked towards the main gate, a giant metallic entrance/exit for both vehicles and people. It was facing directly towards the court, so anyone inside the court can easily access it in case of emergencies like this. Well that's how the teacher explains it, anyway.

"Why are the other advisors not evacuating with their students yet?" The teacher asked, "Then again, with this shaking, the odds of it being an actual earthquake are less than 40%."

I looked at the gate, then looked at the other kids inside the buildings and in their class. This was clearly not an earthquake. Does that mean that we'd be safer if we were inside a building?

I looked at the gate again, noticing that whatever was making that loud shaking, it was getting closer to that gate. But what could it be?

Before I could even finish my thoughts, the gate burst open violently, sparks flying around it. Two giant metallic doors flew off their hinges, soaring right above us and the children before landing with a loud crash on the pavement behind our group.

The other children we were taking care off started screaming and fidgeting, but I was too busy worrying about the monster that broke in through the gate. I looked in horror as a gigantic blue wolf walked through where the gates were, looking lost and pissed off at the same time. It's fur where all standing on edge, looking very solid as flickers of electricity fly around it.

 _It must have gone enraged or something_ , I thought, _and just wandered here while running around._

Walking in a slow but suave way, like it always do, the Zinogre then laid its eyes on us and realized that it had found some easy prey.

 **HRGHH…**

 **AROOOOOOO!**

Its roar echoed through the covered court, making us all cover our ears as the ground nearly shook from the noise.

When the noise subsided, I looked behind to see that my backpack was still safe and sound by the bleachers, which was good news since my 3DS was there.

The only problem was getting to it.

* * *

This is bad.

My 3DS was in the classroom, and there was no way in hell I could get back there in time to stop the Zinogre from attacking my classmates. I look over at Indigo and he was staring at the bleachers, where his bag was.

He needed to get there, but the moment any one of us moves the Zinogre might attack. Although when you think about, it would still attack even if we don't move, since it's not a T-Rex. Indigo looked at me, and I could see that he had a plan.

"We need to scatter," Indigo said.

Wait, that's his plan?!

"Lily," He looks at his coworker, "and Ms…"

"Please call me Irene," our teacher replied.

"Alright. Lily,you take a bunch of students with you and run towards the car park," He pointed to where the cars were. "Irene, take the other bunch and run back towards your building. There's something I need to get."

"But it might chase after us," Lily said.

"It will," Irene butted in, "But if split up it can only chase after one of us. We'll have 10% of a better chance than if we stay as a whole."

"If we're lucky," Indigo said, "It'll chase after me, if that happens…" He looks at me.

I nod. He wanted me to get back to my 3DS in case he doesn't make it to his.

"Ready?!" Indigo asks, looking calm, but I can see the fear in his eyes. What I couldn't tell was whether he was afraid for himself or for us. "GO!"

We all ran, me and Claire and some of the other girls going back with Ms. Irene. The other ones went with Lily. Looking back, I saw the Zinogre start to run towards…

It was running towards Indigo. He was halfway to the bleachers, but the blue saiyan-wolf was gaining up to him. If he can't make it to his DS and transform, he was as good as dead.

The Zinogre leaps up into the air, nearly hitting the roof of the court. It twists around in the air, it's back facing the ground.

It lands violently, sparks flying all around it as both Indigo and the bleachers disappear from view. The only thing you can see right now was a Zinogre lying face up on the ground.

I felt a pull on my arm and saw Claire dragging me with tears in her eyes. My body had gone limp and I felt as if I couldn't move a muscle, or perhaps all control over my body had gone. I let Claire lead me back inside the building, knowing that I could never take my eyes off the Zinogre as it gets back up.

The bleachers were all destroyed, as crumpled as the paper I threw at Indigo a while ago. It all seemed so distant now.

And Indigo… Indigo was nowhere to be seen.

Dirge, on the other hand, was standing there, Hunting Horn in hand.

All my classmates cheered, not knowing nor caring as to what's going on. Without knowing it, I was cheering with them. What was I thinking, of course that asshole won't go down without a fight.

He's got a team to look out for, after all.

* * *

OH SHIT.

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS FUCKING CLOSE.

I tried to keep my stance and look cool as I saw the children looking at me. Deep inside I thought I pissed my pants from the sheer fear of nearly dying a gruesome splat.

With the Awolnation's Hollow Moon playing in my mind, I swing my Hunter Master around, the smileys in the drum looking adorable as I show the Zinogre that I mean business. As the wolf turns around to look at me, looking smug and angry that I was still alive, I point the hunting horn at him.

 _Ima make a deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't bite no more_  
 _Ima make a deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't bite no more_

"You picked the worst day to mess with me."

As if understanding me, the Zinogre started pounding at me with its paws. I run around him, and swing my Horn at his feet. The Zinogre felt it, and summersaulted to tail whip me.

 _Ima make a deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't bite no more_  
 _Ima make a deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't bite no more_

I managed to roll out of his way in the last second, nearly getting hit by its thick tail. The pavement behind me cracked as pieces of cement flew from the attack. I make it to its front and launch an uppercut smash at its face, making it flinch. Before I could even enjoy this small triumph, I noticed his right paw too late as it side swipes me.

The pain was bearable but I was still sent flying backwards. The pain only became slightly unbearable when my back collided with an unfortunate parked car. The car's passenger door was dented when I got up.

I looked at the Zinogre, and saw the children in the buildings and parking lot. I trusted my skills enough to know that I could outlast this monster and beat it up. But doing that will take a long time, and most importantly there's always a shit ton of collateral damage. I'm in a school, every building has a child in it, one mistake and a child could get hurt.

I walked closer to my enemy, and did the same. It was obvious what I needed to do, but not how to do it.

I need to find a way to kill this thing instantly or in the fastest way possible. Otherwise if we fought there are way too many students at risk, especially if the Zinogre uses his lightning attacks.

Come on, Dirge, think. You're the strategist, right?

My eyes darted around, looking for anyplace I could take this fight to. Too many buildings around, all populated. We're in the heart of the city, unlike an evacuated mall or an eco-park there are way too many civilians that could end up as casualties anywhere I choose to go.

I look around once more, surveying the facilities around while avoiding and exchanging blows with the Zinogre.

Dammit, I can't focus, I need to think. If only I could stun the Zinogre fast enough, but it's face is high and I don't have the luxury of spamming a smash attack.

Unless…

Before I could even properly think about it, the Zinogre attacks me again with a paw slam attack, and then the world felt like it slowed down. I side step the attack and jump on the paw that its about to raise next. As expected, the paw launches me upwards, giving me a chance to slam my hunting horn right on the Zinogre's face.

The attack hits, but even before it hit I knew that it wouldn't be enough to stun my enemy. So I decided to use one of my newly learnt moves.

* * *

I cannot explain what just happened, or how Dirge even pulled it off. After using the Zinogre's own damn paw as a launching pad, he slams his Taiko-designed hunting horn on its face, and then activated a loud and shockwave-emitting song.

The hunting horn's shockwave was loud enough for us to hear, similar to the sound a Sonic bomb makes, but noisier and stronger. Dirge landed back on the pavement, while the Zinogre was painfully stunned, its horn like head accessories destroyed.

"A powerful song-no, more like just a note, played right on the enemies face…" I mused, thinking how such a move was possible. But after remembering what Oscar once said about this being real life and how we can experiment with our weapons, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. "Hmm, I guess it's kind of a Point-Blank Note, huh?"

Dirge faced us, pointing towards one of the buildings, "IS THAT AN AMPHITHEATHER?!"

"Yes, why?!" Ms. Irene replied, clutching her purse.

"ARE THERE ANY DOGS NEARBY?!"

"No, why?!" She shouted back, still clutching her purse. I understand that we are in a life-or-death situation but what could possibly be so important that she clutches her purse like that. It's not like she has some kind of very expensive cellphone or videogame console in there, right?

Before Dirge could say anything else though, the Zinogre came back to its senses and pounced on the HH player. As if taunting him, the Zinogre just stared down at him, letting its drool drip down on his armor. Dirge's hunting horn was trapping him further, like a barbell he wasn't able to lift properly.

Great, right after he did something awesome he was back in being the underdog. And he was literally under a dog.

Dirge turned to face us, his Brute Tigrex helmet starting to lose the custom light blue glow in its eyes. He was trying to say something.

"Lift…" He muttered, and it was obvious that the Zinogre wanted to crush him to death, a slow and painful way to punish your enemy. Good one, Zinogre.

"What?!" Ms. Irene asked, her hand snaking inside her purse like she was looking for something. Pepper spray, perhaps?

"Li…Lift…"

All of a sudden, Claire pushed me aside, and ran closer to Dirge and the Zinogre. Before I could even run after her, she faced Dirge and lifted her skirt.

I don't know if this girl is crazy, or stupid. Oh well, at least Dirge can die with the image of little girl's panties in his mind. Also, he did say 'Lift'.

As if I haven't seen enough weird bad-assery yet, the glow in Dirge's helmet's eyes started getting brighter. He put both hands on the hunting horns edges(like a barbell), and started pushing up.

Dirge was fighting back, and he was lifting a whole ton of Zinogre off of him. This was, the least to say, inhuman, if not impossible.

"Never…" He mutters in heavy breaths, and pushes back.

"Underestimate…"

He keeps pushing, it was only a matter of time before the Zinogre is pushed off of him.

"An AVANT-GARDE PEDOPHILE!"

The Zinogre jumps back, realizing the misjudgment it made of its enemy's strength. Too bad he didn't have a better battle cry, I was almost moved. Almost.

"Now HEEL!" Without explaining what he meant by 'Avant-Garde Pedophile', Dirge runs straight to the Amphitheater, and the Zinogre chases after him.

"How and Why?" Was all I could ask Claire.

"I saw him looking a while ago when I fixed my skirt," She smiled, staring at Dirge as if he was some kind of superhero, "The internet says there are people that appreciate that kind of stuff, so I thought…"

"You thought a panty shot would power him up?" I snickered, not knowing how to react to that, "Strange, but effective."

"Panty shot?" Claire asks, looking innocent once more, "But I wasn't wearing any."

I also did not know how to react to that.

* * *

So close.

I came so close to using her. I was afraid that the Hunting Horn user would get killed, and I'll have no choice but to use SOHCAHTOA. But even with her skills, the odds that I'll be able to protect my students are around 30% at the least.

That was a gamble I couldn't risk.

So thank God that the HH guy didn't die, as weird as it is to see the new girl lift her skirt and flash him. I needed to lecture Claire later about showing her underwear to strangers, even if they happen to get weird power surges from seeing those, I mean what is he Hentai Kamen?!

Right now, I should be glad nobody else got hurt, now we just need to see what HH guy plans to do when he gets to the Amphitheater. I told my students to get back in the class room, and ran straight to the Amphitheater.

Claire and Amy followed me, despite all my words, so I let them. Just as we arrive, we saw HH guy climbing up the stage, with the Zinogre hot on his tail. We tried to keep as quiet as possible, hoping that the Zinogre doesn't notice me, and mentally preparing myself to do what must be done if HH guy fails.

HH guy was finally on the stage, holding his Hunting Horn the same way a mage or sorcerer holds the staff on both hands to cast a spell. The Red smiley face of the Hunting Horn was facing the Zinogre, as if taunting him.

The Zinogre runs closer to him, ready to attack, then slows down, and starts limping towards him.

"What's going on?" Claire asks.

I look at both combatants, trying to understand what's happening. HH guy was just standing there with his Hunting Horn, but now the Zinogre was barely able to move before him.

It had stopped moving, and looked like it was in a great deal of pain.

"Could it be?!" I tell no one in particular. Both girls look at me and I remember that they were there. "Girls," I mutter, trying not to look too overwhelmed by HH guy's ingenuity, "Do you know what a dog whistle is?"

Both of them nodded, but only Amy looked like she finally got it. Why the hunter was posed like that, why he was on a stage in an amphitheater, and why the Zinogre had no chance the moment it entered his area.

He had put the Zinogre in a death trap, a place designed to amplify sound waves, and I don't know how but he found the right frequency that only the Zinogre can hear, similar to dog whistles.

The Zinogre was twitching while standing up, but it could hardly move, it had lost the moment he was within hearing range of his Hunting Horn. And with the amphitheater, the damage output was more than 300% stronger.

Imagine watching a movie alone in a cinema with the volume maxed out. Does it hurt? I bet it does.

All of a sudden, though, the Zinogre's head exploded.

As in, it burst in a glorious but gory mess. A headless corpse of a lightning wolf dropped dead on the amphitheater's floor.

"How do we explain that?" Amy asked.

"I… I don't know." I answered, and that was slightly true.

* * *

Dirge's time had run out by the time Amy, Claire, and the teacher Irene came to the amphitheater. I was seated next to the Zinogre's headless, lifeless, corpse. Bloody bits and entrails oozed out of its neck. Lily had just arrived and was more than stunned to find that I had a new secret to share with her.

"How did you do that?!" Amy asked, and to my surprised, she hugged me.

If I had the strength, I would have hugged her back.

Claire walked closer to me with her hands holding the edges of her skirt.

"Thank you, Ultron, for showing me something beautiful" I said weakly but happily, "But I've seen enough for now."

"What?" Claire asked, turning her head like a confused puppy. I left her at that, noting to explain the Avengers reference some other time.

I faced Amy, seeing that she must've known that her classmate was going commando, and I owed her an explanation.

"Do you know Sindel from Mortal Kombat?"

She nodded with a "Hell yeah."

I smiled at her, and to my surprise she smiled sweetly back at me. I turned my face towards the Zinogre carcass I'm sitting by, and grinned, "Fatality."

"Oh," she said, helping me stand and telling her teacher that she'll take me home, she has a driver after all. "Wait, that doesn't explain why you asked Claire to give you an upskirt view."

I pat her on the head, worried that she might bite my hand off, but she didn't. Honestly it was all on a whim, probably because of the adrenaline. I didn't expect it to work, though, so I'm thankful that it did. I shrugged at Amy's question, mainly because I don't have a clever enough answer. She didn't pursue the matter much, which was nice since I was fucking tired.

As I walked with Amy towards her car (class was cancelled for obvious reasons), I looked around with Awolnation's 'I Am' playing in my mind.

 _I'll be swimming in a face of flames_

 _For these friends of mine I've overpaid_

 _And I guess I wanted, I guess I wanted_

 _I just want you to know_

I looked at Amy, the girl who had a love-hate relationship with everyone, especially me who keeps flirting with her. To think that she'd actually stand by me, even knowing the kind of person that I am.

 _All of these things_

 _Made me who I am_

I looked at Lily, a friend close enough for me to consider a partner in crime. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to go here in the first place. I shuddered at what could've happened had I not been here to help.

 _Maybe_

 _All of these things_

 _Made me who I am_

I looked at Claire, a new factor that had just been introduced in my life. She was the dreamgirl for people like me: gentle, carefree, sweet, and most importantly, immodest. Deep inside, I wondered if things between me and Amy might change now that this new character has appeared.

 _Maybe_

 _All of these things_

 _Made me who I am_

I look at the teacher, whose name I had completely forgotten. I assumed that she was unimportant and will probably never show in my life ever again.

 _And I am_

 _Only looking up when my head's down_

I look at the Zinogre, surprised that I managed it without my cousins to back me up. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware of my capability and I know that we're all bad-ass even by ourselves. But the gambit that I had pulled was too risky I'm surprised I managed it without a back-up or a contingency plan.

 _Veins are glistening_

I rest my head and felt sleep trying to consume me the moment I sat inside Amy's car. I barely felt her hold my arm and rest her head on my lap. I decided to just enjoy the moment, for I knew that eventually we'll face worse challenges and I know that we'll keep on improving and finding ways to adapt and rise above the situation.

I let the sleepiness take me, content in knowing who I really am. I'm the guy who just saved a lot of children, who was lucky enough to see something cute and pretty , and is now sleeping with a little girl resting her head on my lap. That's who I am right now, and I'm fine with that.

 _So thanks a lot for listening_


	9. Chapter 9: Tank Times Three

Chapter 9: Tank Times Three

[Indigo: Hey guys]

[Xavier: Hey]

[Char: Sup?]

[Indigo: You guys home yet?]

[Char: still at the province.]

[Xavier: Oh]

[Indigo: btw, I killed a Zinogre yesterdy]

[Xavier: Nice]

[Char: by yourself?]

[Indigo: yeah, Amy was there but she was with her classmates so I had to do it by myself]

[Indigo: there were lots of girls so I was powered up]

[Xavier is typing…]

"What'chu lookin at big bro?!" I feel a sudden weight as Yuel pushed me aside to look at my phone. I was getting bored of walking around the house so I decided to check if my cousins were online. With my phone in his hands, I stood up and stretched around the veranda, enjoying the slightly fresher air that only a rural place could provide. "Woah," Yuel continued, "Zinogre's the lightning wolf right? That's pretty cool."

"Yeah," I replied while enjoying the scenery. Although my grandparent's hometown is situated in between the sea and the slightly forest-ish bottom of a mountain, the trees around their house were not as much as one would expect. Just enough to make the place feel fresh and natural, but not enough to make it feel like your lightyears away from civilization. The town itself was already modernized in its own right, with fastfoods here and there and better paved roads for the vehicles and all that.

"Look what I found," We heard Yuri's gentle voice (totally opposite of Yuel's who always seems to be shouting) from beside the house. Both my twin brothers were wearing a simple white tank top and basic plain colored shorts, red for Yuel and blue for Yuri. For a while they remind me of the bug catcher kids in Pokemon, sans the hat.

Yuri held his hand up to show an emerald-green dragonfly, his fingers lightly pinching its wings to hold it. The tiny insect tried to move around which made Yuri flinch a bit, but he still managed to keep hold of it.

"Wow," I mused, remembering my childhood days of playing around this place, back when I was still an only child, "I didn't think there were still dragonflies here nowadays."

"What should we do with it?" Yuel asked, touching the dragonfly curiously.

"We'll feed it and let it drink," Yuri replied, moving his hand away from Yuel, "Then we'll let it go."

That's right, both Yuri and Yuel love bugs, but Yuri was more caring and always looked out for the bugs he sees around him. He once had a pet spider (the spider was not aware that he was a pet of course) which he played with and fed with random unfortunate ants he found around the house. It didn't last long as the spider never appeared again one day, possibly dead or squashed or even eaten by a lizard. I remembered Indigo telling Yuri that it was probably a lizard who did it, mostly because Indigo just hated lizards with all his heart. It was like a phobia, he once said, but instead of just fear he hates them too.

I don't hate or love bugs or lizards either way, but I was glad that my brothers were not collecting them or anything.

"Hmm?!" I heard Yuel as he hands my phone back, "You got a message, I think."

I checked my notifications and found one from our website. Someone had submitted an official request to the Raptor Bros.

Let's see, 'a giant beetle' has been sighted within a mountainous area which happens to be nearby. Huh, how lucky are we that the quest location happened to be within commuting distance to us. I chatted up my cousins to tell them that I'll take on the quest.

[Indigo: you good?]

[Xavier: sure you don't need backup?]

[Indigo: we can go there if we have to. Amy's got a driver and a car]

Backup, huh? I don't need them to come here, I thought. Looking at my two brothers chasing an escaped dragonfly, I knew that I had all the backup that I needed.

Well, assuming that they can use their Hunter avatars now.

* * *

It was so exciting to finally take on a mission with our big brother. Yuel won't stop jumping around while Char told our grandparents that we were just going to check out a nearby fair in the town. I didn't like lying, so it's a good thing that there actually was a fair in the town, which Char promised to take us to after the mission.

While packing our 'adventure bags', I couldn't help but open my 3DS and check on my hunter. I've been using Yin for a long time now, and I guess we should be able to 'sync' properly now. Yuel and I were both finally able to summon our Hunters out, with the help of Frank and Xavier. After endless practices and tiring High and G-rank quests, the two of us finally managed to do it.

Well, it lasted for 15 minutes before Yuel and I became too tired to keep it up, but we're still trying to get better at it. Maybe this time around, we can at least keep it for 30 minutes or so.

Then again, Yin and Yang are currently only using Highrank armors right now, to use a G-rank armor would make it harder for us to sync. Frank once told us that, according to Oscar Chase, syncing with your hunter becomes easier or harder depending on your hunter's equipment. The higher its rarity, and the stronger the monster the armor is based on, would require more 'inner strength' to sync with.

Since Yin and Yang's main armors are Shagaru and Gore, we can only use the High-Rank versions for now.

Until we get stronger, of course. Yuel and I promised that we need to get stronger, that soon we'll be fighting alongside our brothers (and sisters) in full Arc X and Gore X armor.

And that's a promise we plan to keep.

* * *

After a tiring but also refreshing walk, we finally arrived at the town center where the fair was. Coincidentally, it was also the meeting place where we would meet the quest giver. After telling my brothers to behave and convincing Yuel that we'd buy those cheap-looking toys later, we walked towards the guy who might be the quest giver.

"Hi, I'm Rain," He extends his hand toward us. Looking him over, he looked a little out of place for a townsperson, but at the same time he looked dandy enough to fit in the fair. His thick hair was all brushed up, making it look like a lion's mane. He was wearing a white long-sleeved polo with a black waistcoat, partner that with his black pants and shoes and it made him look like some kind of gentleman. "Are you the ones who took my request?"

"We have friends who do the hunting for us," I reply and shook his hand, trying to keep ourselves as anonymous as possible, "I'm just a liaison."

"That's alright," He said, and told us that a monster resembling a Desert Seltas and its Queen has been spotted near the bottom of a mountain. The mountain was a tourist spot and occasionally has hikers, so we needed to get rid of the danger immediately.

Weird though, they're called Desert Seltas not Mountain Seltas, what would one be doing in a mountain region? A Seltas or a Seltas Queen would be understandable, but…

"Oh, by the way," Rain called to us before we left for the mission, "I suggest you do it quick, I hired another set of hunters to finish the job in case you guys take too long. They'll be here in an hour or so, so think of this as a competition."

Huh, that's new, I didn't know there were other hunters offering their services beside us. Then again, it made sense too, since if it were just us we'd be piled with requests and we won't be enough to keep every place in the country safe against monsters. Of course there'd be other hunters in other areas, it just so happens that we need to finish this quest before someone else does.

Now that I think about it, this mission would probably be 10x easier with Indigo and Xavier and Amy here.

But hey, this'd also be good bonding time for me and my twin brothers. Here's hoping I don't get them killed.

* * *

"Hurry up guys!" I shouted back at Yuri and Char lagging behind me. The mountain was big, but there was a trail we could follow, so I raced as fast as possible to find the we were supposed to hunt. "We need to finish this before the other hunters get here."

I think it's safe to say that I had the most stamina out of the three of us, I'm not surprised that Yuri is a bit slow since he isn't a very athletic person. Everyone always told us that we were too different that it was almost like we were two halves of a whole individual.

Char,on the other hand, I didn't expect him to slow down. He always kept up with me when we were playing tag or any physical games, as well as keeping Yuri entertained when they play less-tiring games or drawing stuff. It's not like him to get tired this easily.

"What's the matter big bro?" I asked.

"Huh?" He looks at me like he only just got back to reality, "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking."

"What'chu thinking about?" I asked again.

"My armor," He replied, looking around to survey our surroundings, "I also had a Desert Seltas armor remember?"

Yuri nodded and so did I.

"I was thinking of using it," He continued after stepping over a fallen tree, "I mean, it's actually more ideal for a Charge Blade user, right?"

"But Oscar Chase said…" Yuri started, but stopped after hearing some rumbling nearby.

We all huddled together and kept quiet, listening to where the rumbling might come from. Staying steady and waiting was something I had a hard time doing, but I managed. The ground rumbled and the trees and bushes around us shook, meanwhile Char looked around trying to find where the source may be.

He slowly walked towards a smaller path off the trail we were previously on, and gestured with his hands for us to follow him. Yuri had already been holding his 3DS and I could see that he was trembling, this was after all, our first time in the field.

We're not just going to be controlling our hunters with buttons, our bodies will be one and their pain will be ours as well. We can't afford to just play around like the little kids that we are, even for just a few hours, we needed to be mature. Still, I can't help but feel excited.

Just as I had finished calming my enthusiastic heart down, a gigantic tank-like insect crawled into our view. It was big enough to tower over the trees, which weren't the largest kinds of trees but still. It's shining bronze shell had mud and leaves stuck all over it, implying that it might have been hanging around here for a while. This was definitely a Desert Seltas Queen, even though we're not in the desert which was a little weird.

It hadn't seem to notice us yet, but a smaller, beetle-like monster was flying alongside it. A Desert Seltas, and it was closer to us and could see us any second. _We need to be careful,_ I thought, _maybe we could take it by surprise and kill it before it can react._

Just as I finish the thought in my head, the looks our way and an exclamation point appeared above its head. It was a weird sight, and I could almost hear the 'enemy-notices-Snake' alarm from the Metal Gear games.

"It's seen us!" Char, no, Relena shouted. He had already synced with his Monster Hunter, but as he had said a while ago, he was using his Seltas Z armor set. Instead of looking like the usual Warrior Princess we were used to, before us stood a Cyborg-looking lady knight straight out of a sci-fi movie. Her armor was shiny and as bronze as the monsters before us, with weird spikes hanging out of suspended, circular…things attached to her shoulders.

Her charge blade was still the same, holding a dark-silver shield with slits that make it look like a Silver Rathalos' face. She raises her shield as if to protect us, but looked at us as if to say, 'It's Time'.

Yuri and I both looked at each other, and held our DS up. We've been practicing and preparing for this moment.

"White Artillery, Yin!" Yuri shouted, holding his glowing 3DS and focusing deeply in it.

"Black Lancer, Yang!" I replied as loud as I could, and focused on my hunter sleeping within my game console.

And together, we shout once more.

" **HUNTER SYNCHRONIZE!"**

* * *

What the hell?

I think my brothers have been watching too much anime. Oh well, I must admit it kinda looked cool, especially when this flash of bright light emitted just as they finished their 'transformation phrases'. When the light dissipated, standing next to me where two knights. Yin, wearing his Arc S armor, was more of an archangel with a modern looking gunlance, the Admiral's Arbalance black and gold finish had a good blend with his white armor. Yang wore the Gore EX armor, which must've been a pain to grind, was like a dark-hellish version of Yin's armor set, minus the wings. This one looked like a fallen angel, with horns sticking out of his mask, and veins of glowing violet coursing through the whole armor, finished with a Harbah Lance to contrast his armor with a white and golden polish.

Together they looked like Heaven and Hell clashing together with a little bit of Earth in between. Let's hope they can use these armors and weapons properly.

"As Indigo expected," Yang smiled as he moved his limbs like an athlete warming up, "The EX armor has less accessories, so it's lighter than the Gore S."

Oh, I didn't know that Indigo was able to mentor them on what armor would be ideal for them. Then again he must've been hanging out with them after work when I'm too busy with assignments.

"And the Admiral's Arbalance seems easy enough to use," Yin followed with a grin.

Feeling proud of my brothers for finally syncing with their hunters, I smiled and unsheathed my weapon. As I mentally prepared myself to kick some insect ass, I looked at Yin and Yang to find that the three of us were now standing side-by-side with our weapons at the ready.

"Let's do this boys," I grinned and pointed my blade towards the queen, feeling like the leader for once. Even though Dirge was always the one leading the hunts, when co-oping in the game we occasionally took turns being the leader. I'm particularly confident that I can lead my brothers properly, and we'll finish this quest as soon as possible. "Give 'em hell-no, HEAVEN AND HELL!"

As soon as the words had escaped from my mouth, Yang sprinted straight for the queen, his lance pointed outwards like he was in a joust. Yin was walking painfully slow with his shield up, trying to get closer to the enemy.

Thinking back, I decided to mentally review what my brothers' personal skills were:

Yang had _**Unstoppable Force**_ , which I think gave him a combined Evasion+3,Evade Distance, and the ability to cancel his attack and backhop/sidestep immediately, but gives him the blocking level of an SnS user. His other skill is _**Reckless Abandon Redux**_ , which allows him to throw his shield away to move at a faster speed and gain increased attack and affinity.

As for Yin, he has _**Immovable Object**_ , which nullifies all damage and stamina loss he receives when guarding, but makes him slower than a regular gunlancer moving with a shield up. The other one is _**Patient Panzer**_ , which makes his Wyvern Fire take much longer to charge but does double damage and does not overheat his gunlance.

Now, what can I do to make sure that they fight to their fullest potential? What would Dirge do if he was here?

"Yang!" I shouted at the dark-armored lancer rushing the queen and stabbing at random points of its body. "Focus on its feet, or whatever those things are!

He nodded and sidestepped to avoid a gigantic body slam, missing him by an inch. He instantly countered with a strong pierce attack to its left hind leg.

"Yin," I said as I drag my brother to move faster, "Sheathe your weapon first and get near its face, then unsheathe and focus on using full burst shots."

"But," Yin replied, looking terrified, "If I sheathe my weapon I can't use my shield properly."

"I'll protect you," I answer him sincerely, knowing that I should be able to move fast enough to block any attacks on Yin. Yang is more of an evade lancer, so he needs less protecting, but more guidance since he doesn't really care what he attacks as long as he hits something.

Yin nodded, and after unsheathing his weapon, ran straight for the Queen. I saw the queen's henchman try to attack Yin, and intercepted it with an axe-mode slash to bring it to the ground. Noticing that the queen was focused on Yang, I decided to use the henchman to fill my phials and attacked until I broke the horn.

"Don't hurt it too much!" I heard Yin shout at me, "I want to see if I could befriend it like a beetle. The queen is the only real threat right?"

Hmm, befriend it like a beetle? This isn't Mushiking, but if it's Yuri we're talking about, he might actually pull it off. I can almost imagine the Raptor Bros. having their own pet Seltas.

I heard the shot of a cannon, and saw that Yin had instantly broken the shield-like mandible of the queen with a full burst, and Yang had also broken two hind legs of the enemy.

"Nice one, guys!" I shouted at them, feeling very happy that this would be a cinch. But deep inside, I knew that I shouldn't let my guard down.

I was right, and within a second after having its 'shield' broken, steam came out of the Queen's joints, and the monster looked ready for a trampling rampage. It's eyes locked on us as it makes a weird, horn-like sound, indicating that it's about to charge. The flying lands on its queen's shell, and I could honestly imagine the Voltes V theme song as they 'volt in'.

"Guys," I started, but we all knew what I was going to say, "RUN!"

And that's what we did.

The three of us, stupidly running together like the devil was on our heels, we were all too scared to look behind but we knew that the queen was still charging after us. Trees were noisily falling down, the woods being easily torn apart by a gigantic tank-like insect.

"It's not stopping!" Yang shouted.

He's right, it should've stopped by now. It wasn't as fast as the ones in game, since if it was still following us and rampaging, it should've trampled us a while ago already. This one was moving slow enough to keep up to us, was it trying to tire us down first before mowing us all down completely?

"It won't stop," I replied, stopped, and turned around. I had a plan, but I wasn't sure if it would work. "We need to stop it ourselves before it gets to the public areas"

I managed to supercharge my shield a while ago, so I held up a shield glowing red. My siblings got the point, and raised theirs as well.

"There's just three of us," I noted aloud, "But if we stick together properly…"

With me and my shield at the middle, my brothers and their shields beside me, we stood our ground and formed our version of a Phalanx. With our feet planted down and ready to take on all the queen's weight, I grit my teeth and tighten my grip on my shield while playing the Avengers theme song in my head. All of a sudden, I remember all the training that Capt. Waltz put me through, and I secretly hope that it would be enough for this situation.

 **CRASH!**

I have no idea how heavy the D. was, but I could feel a whole car weighing down on my shield. The tremors run through my arms and my muscles tense, my brain ignoring the pain until my hand was feeling numb.

Even with the three of us sharing the impact, it still felt like I just took on a car in its full velocity. Our feet were starting to skid through the ground, but we tried our best to stay planted in place.

"Rrrgh…" Yin was grimacing, "Even though this doesn't hurt, I could feel the strain on our sync…"

"This is nothing!" Yang screamed at the queen, although I could see the pain in his face. "But his right, if this keeps up…"

The D.S Queen was still going, and pretty soon we won't able to hold it anymore. Our defense was enough to slow it down, but not enough to stop it. Not to mention that I'm using an armor I wasn't that used to yet, and this is Yin and Yang's first actual battle. Just like the twins said, if we keep this up…

We might lose our sync.

Come on Char, think, what would Dirge do?

Dirge would never put the twins at risk in the first place, he would have found a way to stop it with only his own self being the one at risk. That's just how his strategy works.

Wait. Stop trying to think like him, or how his strategy works. What about your kind of strategy? How should Char, or Relena, handle this?

"Yin!Yang!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, pushing through the pain and the fear, "On my signal, stop blocking and jump to the side!"

"What about you?!" Yin shouted back, "If we let go it'll trample you!"

No, it won't. Cause I got a plan.

"Don't mind me," I replied, "Just get ready… now GO!"

They both jumped to the side, and the queen started accelerating again. Before all the weight came crashing on me, I let go and jumped backwards. Thankfully, the sudden force on my shield pushed me backwards far enough to give me space in between the queen.

I shove my blade back into the shield, and pressed a button to make it transform. But before it could even start switching to its axe-mode, I press another button and flick my wrist to change the transformation process.

You see, I've been so bored in our grandparents' house lately that I decided to start tinkering further with my Charge Blade, and I found out that with the right switches and buttons, and with the right hand and arm movements, you can affect how the shield and blade transform.

And as the Desert Seltas Queen comes charging at me, I grinned at it and felt the transforming weapon on my right hand.

As expected, and as I had tried before, the shield divided into multiple parts, each part extending and enveloping my whole arm. The blade inside it has turned around, its sharp and phial-filled tip extending from the shield and pointing outwards like an assassin's hidden blade.

I readied my right hand, looking at the weapon that I have created.

As if blending with my robotic looking armor, a large, silvery gauntlet encases my whole right arm, ready to punch some sense into the enemy.

The Desert Seltas plows straight through the foliage at me, and I swing my fist.

"This is my strategy! FEEL MY RAW POWER!" I screamed as my gigantic armored fist collides with the queen's face, the blade at its tip releasing waves of impact phial energy. I could hear a flurry of those cymbal-like ' _tsing!_ '-s as those bright round lights emanated where my attack connected.

" **TSAR BOMBA!** "

I released all my phials as a final resort, and a strong and bright shockwave came out of my metallic fist, like it was a giant explosive punch. Without knowing it, I had closed my eyes from the brightness, and when I opened them…

The D. Seltas queen was not yet dead, but it was stunned. The had been blown off its top, lying upside down and dazed.

"Looks like raw power wasn't enough," I shouted with a hint of disappointment, but kept my cool. "Yin, finish this with a wyvern fire!"

Yin followed suite, and started charging in front of the queen's stunned face. The charge wait was longer because of his skill, and as I had feared the stun time had run out and the queen was getting ready to make a comeback.

"It's about to move! Help!" Yin shouted, trying not to panic.

"Got ya covered, Brobro!" Yang shouted back, his shield dissipating, " **RECKLESS ABANDON...REDUX!** "

He sprinted straight at the queen fast enough to rival Saber in archdemon mode, and used one of its legs as a spring board to jump on. High up in the air, he heaved back his lance wielding arm, and threw the lance downwards like a javelin. The force was so sudden and powerful that the queen had been nailed to the ground.

"Alright, I got this!" Yin smiled at his twin, and released an incredibly massive wyvern fire. The fire was so strong that the leaves of the trees within his blast radius were smoking and singed, while Yin himself had skid back 2 whole meters away from his original position.

After the smoke cleared, we checked to see if the queen was still alive. It wasn't, and all that remained was a barbecued shell and bits and pieces of limbs and organs. It was like someone put a firecracker inside a half-eaten crab.

"Eww…" I heard Yin whisper, but when I looked he had return back to Yuri.

"How long was that?" Yuel said, looking at his Batman-themed wristwatch, "Huh… It's… We started at…"

"30 minutes," Yuri butted in, looking at Yuel's watch.

"I knew that." Yuel replied, then looked over at the , "Oh, we forgot about that? Ri?"

Yuri nodded, and walked closer to the Desert Seltas who looked like it had just woken up. It didn't seem enraged, so I calmed down a bit, but didn't sync out just yet. I could feel the strain on my body but somehow it was like I was becoming more synced with my armor at the same time. Could it be because we just defeated a monster my armor was made from?

"Shh…" Yuri spoke gently, reaching out with an open hand toward the Desert Seltas, "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

The Desert Seltas looked curious, but not hostile, as it wobbled slowly towards Yuri. I readied my blade as my brother slowly touches the monster's shell.

The looked like it had started to calm down, and we were all focused at the weird moment happening before us.

"Good boy," Yuri smiled as he caressed the big insect as if it was a dog.

Everything looked like a touching family movie scene, up until the part where a giant blade cut the Desert Seltas in half.

"What…" Yuri fell down on the ground and stared in disbelief. The monster he had nearly tamed now lie in two pieces on the forest soil. Behind it was an individual in what looked like a Duramboros armor set and a White Monoblos greatsword.

Yuel was already sitting right next to Yuri and holding him like a protective parent. "WHAT THE HELL?!" He screamed at the Greatsword user in front of us.

The GS user said nothing, his Duramboros helmet covering all his emotions.

"It was part of the quest," another voice said, and I looked around to see a ninja looking huntress perching on a tree branch above us. Nargacuga armor, I assumed, but I couldn't see what weapon she had. "We wanted to kill the queen, but saw that you had it under control. But when those two babies removed their armors and was approached by the Seltas, we had to kill it before it attacked."

"HE WASN'T GOING TO ATTACK!" Yuri screamed at the ninja girl as she jumped off the tree and stood next to GS guy.

"How can you be so sure?" The GS guy finally spoke, sounding as tough as he looked, "If we let it, it could have killed you. They're monsters, we're hunters. If we don't kill them they'll kill us, or worse, innocent people."

I stood in front of my brothers and tried to diffuse the situation, keeping my hunter synced just in case.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"We're a hunting guild, just like you." The girl replied, and I saw that she had dual blades on her back. "Although we don't really have a name yet. I've got to admit, you guys have balls recruiting kids to fight real monsters with your guild."

"They can handle it, and we protect them."

"That's not what you were doing when we arrived."

"He was taming that Desert Seltas," I replied, trying to stay calm. The last thing I want to hear is for someone to accuse me of jeopardizing the safety of my brothers. "The way I see it, he almost got cleaved by your Duramboros dude when he killed that Seltas."

The GS guy walked closer to me, and said, "I don't make mistakes."

" _Anyway_ …" Ninja girl took GS guy's arm and led him away, "We need to be going. You can have the reward since you killed the queen. 'Till we meet again!"

And with that, they walked away without looking back. I turned around to see Yuel comforting a crying Yuri.

"You ok?" I asked and Yuri nodded while wiping his tears.

"Let's hope that doesn't _tro…traw…_ " Yuel struggled to say a word, and asked, "What's that word you grown-ups use when you get scarred for life?"

"Traumatize?"

"Yeah," Yuel grinned, and put an arm on Yuri, "Let's hope you don't get traumatized. I don't want to have to visit you in a mental hospital or something."

And with that, Yuri was smiling again.

* * *

"Other hunting guilds huh?" Amy said during our meeting when we finally came back to HQ. Char, Indigo, Xavier and Yuel and I were all in the meeting. Frank was busy with schoolwork so she couldn't come. "And looks like Yuri here almost tamed a monster."

I nodded. I was still kind of upset about having a potential friend sliced in half in front of me, but I needed to be strong. Things like that will happen and it's part of the hunter's life.

"Interesting," Indigo said, rubbing his chin like a detective, "If we can tame monsters, that would be a strategic advantage, especially if this competitive quests keep coming up."

That's right. Rain, the guy who gave us the quest and the reward, said that there'll be more VS. Quests that will pit guilds against each other. He also said that these are just a 'build-up' for an upcoming Hunting Tournament.

"A tournament, huh?" Xavier grinned and crossed his arms, "Now we can finally show that we're the best out there."

"Yeah, but right now it's just local," Yuel butted in, "So only those in our country can participate. International tournaments would be too expensive I guess."

Indigo stood up and patted both my and Yuel's head, "It's good to have you guys in the team." Then he sat down in between us and hugged us both, "And I'm glad you're safe."

"I have one more concern," Amy spoke up, "Tournament's usually have plenty of activities and challenges. Just the 7 of us might not be enough, we may need to start recruiting other hunters, even if just for back-up."

We all stood up and 'adjourned' the meeting, where we basically sit back down and just do whatever we want to.

Looking around me, I watched this crazy group of ours chill and have fun. Indigo was pestering Amy as usual, telling her that his Mii in Tomodachi Life already had a baby with her Mii. Char and Xavier were exchanging combat stories from their recent hunts, talking about a close call with an Apex Rajang. Yuel was inviting me to play Just Dance with him, we were after all the only ones in this group that could get the Twins Rating in two-player songs.

I couldn't help but smile as I watch all these cheerful people have fun, regardless of the things they had been through, and the things they know they'll have to go through. Now that I think about it, we were kind of a big happy family.

And we're about to get bigger, aren't we?


	10. Chapter 10: The Chuunibyou Chef

Chapter 10: The Chuunibyou Chef

 _Chop,chop,chop_

I feel the knife in my hands, the sleek texture of the handle conversing with the skin of my palm. Slice every spice and mince every meat, that is the routine that I am up to this morning. The simpletons around me look in awe and disbelief as they watch me work my magic.

 _That's right_ , I whisper to myself, _See how a genius does it. You average joes can only hope to achieve a sliver of my god-like skill._

I finish chopping and raise my knife towards the sky. Well technically it only points towards the ceiling of our kitchen but that'll have to do.

"Witness my miracle," I speak to the sky, hoping that my words reach the celestials watching over me, "Today, I, Soichiro Sakurai will prove my mettle in the buffet. The progenitor of the Sky Knife School of Culinary Arts will be promoted to head chef on this day!"

I smile as tears of joy well up in my eyes. Soon, I will make them all proud.

Cue opening song.

"Hey, Charlie's at it again," a coworker whispers and snickers somewhere behind me. Piece of shit thinks I can't hear him.

No matter, he is unimportant, and anyone using my 'fake' name does not deserve my attention. My birth certificate and my ID's use the name Charlie, but my true name is Soichiro Sakurai. I suppress a grin as the other nobodies look at me with their sub-par eyes.

 _You will all kneel before me,_ I conduct an inner monologue as I prepare my dish, _Before this day ends…_

I look at my hand, trembling with power as it grips a knife.

… _You will see my true form!_

* * *

"I keep telling you," Amy shakes her fist as if to punch me, "It's not a date!"

It obviously wasn't, but my day was never complete unless I tease around with the girl I like. Sure she's half my age, but it's not like that's an issue right?

By the way, the 'date' I was joking about was actually some kind of lunch buffet to commemorate some charity event sponsored by a bunch of rich people. Amy's dad, owner of their family business, was one of the sponsors but couldn't come so his daughter would proxy for him.

As usual, she invited us to go with her for no good reason. Heck, maybe she just likes _my_ \- I mean _our_ company. Char, Frank, and the twins were all busy so it was just me and Xavier who could come along.

"You guys can date all you want," Xavier grins at us, "I just hope a monster shows up so I can finally try my Star Knight armor in action."

That's right, after learning that you can use different armor sets with enough practice, Xavier grinded for the Star Knight DLC armor set and partnered it with Brachydios dual blades. I, on the other hand, was still happy with my Brute Tigrex armor and will only change once I can use the Molten Tigrex set. Amy was also happy with her set.

"I'd like some peace and quiet for once," I commented, fixing the sleeves of the tuxedo Amy forced me to wear. It was a formal event, so we all had to dress like we were rich people going to a ball or something. "But then again, we need every opportunity to improve the brand awareness and image of our guild."

"No monster is allowed to disturb today's event," the ten year old girl beside me replied, "I've got people to talk to and clients to converse with." Jeez, she's a hundred times more professional than I am. "Speaking of which, you could use some referrals Indigo. Stick with me and I could introduce you to my clients."

"Thanks but no thanks," I reply while adjusting the collars of my shirt. Ugh, I hate these kind of outfits. How does Amy look so pretty _and_ comfy in her formal dress and bolero? And Xavier, though we have similar outfits, is even wearing a necktie.

Man, the sacrifices we do for fashion. I resent it so much.

Oh well, at least I get to hang out with Amy again. I really think she's warmed up to us now, since she's verbally abusing us less and less lately.

"So I was watching an episode of SAO the other day, and I got an idea for a special technique," I snapped back to reality and heard Xavier talking to me and Amy. "I'm gonna call it…"

"You can base your moves from Boku no Pico for all I care," Amy replied without batting an eye, and looked outside the car, "Anyways, we're here."

I looked outside to see a large open-area, covered by a giant white tent with the events title and sponsors printed on the fabric. An equally large parking area was located right next to it, but unlike the other places in the vicinity the cars were parked on unasphalted ground, so Amy was a bit worried that soil and dust might make her car a little too dirty.

"This is the closest parking," I told her, wondering why she was worried too much of getting her car dirty. It's not like she was going to wash it herself. "Would you rather go to a covered parking building but walk far?"

"Point taken," she replied, fixing her dress as we got out of the car. "Sorry, I tend to care too much about this car." Amy wiped a bit of dust off the windshielf, and winced as she wiped her finger on her dress. "Don't mind me, let's go."

So we started walking, and I was thankful that the heat had not become unbearable yet because the last thing I want is to start sweating under a tuxedo. Amy, on the other hand, looked like she was about to sweat as much as I would when I exercise.

"Let me guess," I asked, trying to deduce what's going on in her head. I don't know her enough but I've been with both kids and adults often and I like to think that I can read them, or something like that. "Nervous about having to proxy for your dad?"

She looked like she was about to give me a bullshit answer, like 'Of course not!' or 'Nothing fazes me you worthless pervert' or something like that. Instead, that look I was talking about disappeared from her face and she nodded.

"What if they don't like me?" She asked, looking genuinely worried to the point that I wondered if we hadn't accidentally switched Amy with someone else. "I mean, it's so hard to get anyone's respect when you're a kid! Plus they're expecting my dad to meet with them, and they're going to get a 10 year old girl talking about things she shouldn't even know about yet."

"A little girl talking about things she shouldn't know about yet?" I said with a grin, and both Amy and Xavier got where I was heading since they now have this 'don't you dare' look on their faces. "I'd like to chat with that kinda girl."

They calmed down, probably because they expected a more explicit joke coming from me, but I was feeling classy today. It was the tuxedo's fault.

"Hey," I continued, "You don't usually let things break your stoic aura. You're pretty clever, and I'm confident to say that you're a very mature and very smart kid. Just a bit smarter than me, if I do say so myself. My point is, you're too good to give a fuck what a bunch of money-minded douchebags think about you."

She smiled at me, which was something I never expected to happen. Now I can finally die in peace.

"There's this quote I read on the internet," Xavier butted in with a grin, "Wolves don't lose sleep over the opinion of sheep."

God damn right.

* * *

After hours of painful preparation and seemingly endless cooking, the event finally begins and our buffet was served in time with the guests' arrival. There were plenty of cooks lined up along side me, all of which are either employees or part-time working students working for the event organizer. I was part of the latter, but if I show them that my cooking is unrivaled and above expectations, the higher ups might promote me or even absorb me to work full-time. Such is necessary if I were to proceed with my plans of becoming the progenitor of the Sky Knife School of Culinary Arts.

But I can worry about the capital for making your own school later. Right now there are guests to serve and co-workers to defeat. Out of subconscious reflex, I open my bag under my table and check on my 3DS. A green light is on, indicating that someone had street-passed me.

Interesting, there's someone else in the event who has the audacity to bring a game console with them? Everyone else's piece of technology are usually smart phones used to call their clients and set their meetings. And also to play some shit-ass app games about making clans and clashing with your friends and stuff. You know, the usual boring normal stuff.

But if there's someone around here who knows how to actually live, then this person or persons must be worth meeting. I look around and check if there's anyone who looks like they might be the one I street-passed.

Everyone's looking formal, with most if not all of the guests being middle-aged business men and their colleagues. None of these corporate robots would be awesome enough to play, let alone bring a 3DS here.

I look around some more, scanning the crowd while serving anyone who wishes to taste the meal I had cooked. There, by the sponsors; a little girl who looks to be around 9 or 10, she's most likely to be the one I street-passed. Sitting next to her are two guys, one who looks to be slightly older than her (could also be the one I street-passed) and one who looks like your typical young adult in a formal attire(could also be…but could he?). Basically, I found a trio of two kids and one adult who looked like one of them could've been the one I street-passed. Then again, it was possible that more than one if not all of them could be the ones who street-passed me.

Nevertheless, this group might be more interesting…nay, this trio must be the most interesting thing in this gala right now. Well, most interesting thing besides me, of course. Hmm, I wonder if they also play Monster Hunter, or if they've learned to-

They're walking towards our buffet, act cool. I smile my generic waiter smile as the three of them approach me.

"Wow, these all look awesome," the eldest said. He had a not-so-thin buzz cut hairstyle, which when paired with his clean shaven look and formal attire, gave him an aura of what I like to think as 'too-good-looking-to-be-a-psychopath'. In my book, that kind of vibe usually means that he is the opposite of what he looks like, so I found him kinda shady. Someone that neat must have the mind of a villain, like Sosuke Aizen from Bleach or Dr. Wells from The Flash.

"I'd eat all of them, but I don't have the eating capabilities like you or Char or Frank," the smaller guy commented. He was only slightly taller than the girl, but I assumed he was either 12 or 13. And basing on the way he talked to the older one, it sounded to me like they were family.

"Behave yourselves," the little girl said, "The two of you are my guests and it would reflect badly on me if you mess around." She had a certain air about her, to the point that she feels like the most mature out of the three of them. She talked like an old-fashioned adult, but with the way she carried herself as she talked I assumed that's not how she always talks.

The trio continued bantering, with the eldest mentioning that he was an adult and didn't need to be told to behave. The younger boy mentioned something about doing his best to embarrass the girl, while the girl kept her cool and just started taking food like some kind of royalty. They're all family, I guess, with the way they talked to each other. Siblings, perhaps? Although I find myself dumbfounded that the older guy would bring his brother and sister with him to a formal event like this. It's not like the event is for adults only, but it just feels like children would be out of place in an event like this.

After serving them and a couple of other guests, I excused myself to use the bathroom. Looking at the mirror by the sink, I checked myself all over and made sure I was looking presentable. My hair was still the same kind of golden blonde that it was since I was a kid, long and thick and brushed back enough to rival the third Meijin Kawaguchi's hairstyle. The outfit I had on was typical, since I was supposed to look like a waiter even though most of us service the meals at the buffet were also the ones who cooked them. Overall, I think I still look okay.

Bringing my bag along with me, I locked myself inside a stall and checked my 3DS. The game I had on was Senran Kagura, but I checked the notifications and saw that my Monster Hunter detected 3 devices.

Interesting.

* * *

"Is it just me, or has that waiter been checking us out since we got some of his food?" Amy asked, looking more curious than paranoid as she gracefully slices a piece of steak. Neither Xavier nor I were messy eaters, but if you look at the three of us you can easily tell which one has etiquette.

"Could he be checking YOU out?" I teased, feigning some sort of misogynistic possessiveness. I cracked my knuckles and my neck like some thug, "You want me to teach him a lesson babe?"

"For all we know," she replied without giving a damn about my joke, "He's checking YOU out."

Xavier nearly spit out his iced tea, which caused Amy and I to nearly do the same thing.

When we were all quiet and back to eating delicious gourmet dishes, Xavier took his 2DS out and I saw that the green light was on.

"We already street-passed each other this morning," Xavier noted, waking his console from sleep mode, "So who's this?"

Curiosity got the better of me and I checked my 3DS to see if there was a Monster Hunter guild card. Sure enough, there was, meaning that whoever street-passed us could still be nearby and is most definitely a Monster Hunter. If he or she was capable of syncing with his/her hunter, then that person would either be a potential threat or a potential ally for the Raptor Bros.

I checked the guild card, and saw an HR 200-something male hunter wearing that cook outfit armor set and a Santoku Reaver greatsword.

Hmm, if this guy's hunter is wearing a chef-ish armor set… therefore…

" _Ah got it_!" I exclaimed, trying to act like Professor Layton or at least some gentleman-detective with a British accent. " _The bloke we had street-passed must be one of these cooks!_ "

"Yeah we got that already," Amy replied and Xavier nodded along. "It was pretty obvious."

I was going to make a comeback joke, but had to stop when I felt a strange but familiar tremor. It felt like a small earthquake, but was gradually getting stronger.

Or in my opinion, closer.

I knew that kind of shaking, I've felt it before when I fought a Zinogre in Amy's school. But this one's tremor felt different, it felt…massive.

"Heads up, Raptors," I said as I stood up with my 3DS in hand, "We might need to deploy."

"Yes!" Xavier fist bumped the air above him.

* * *

People were starting to ask around what was going on, and most of them were going outside to check what the rumbling was. I had a fair idea of what it could be, and it looks like those three knew as much as I did. I would've have followed them, but the crowd rushing out got the better of me and they were gone before I could see where they went.

I had no other choice but to walk with the simpletons and see what was going on outside. Before I could even get out I could already hear people shouting and starting to panic.

Hurrying outside, I watched as what looked like a herd of wild boars started trampling around, hitting anything that was on their path and tackling whatever they saw.

Bullfangos. Lots of them. Everyplace within the vicinity, on and off the road, these human-sized Pumba's were on a rampage. As dangerous as the situation is, they kind of remind me of the way people flock during a black Friday sale.

I chuckled, knowing that I shouldn't since people are bound to get hurt and properties are being destroyed. But that's just who I am, someone who laughs in the face of danger.

"That's right, you uncooked bastards!" I raised my fist as I walk closer to the horde, readying my 3DS. I have been chosen with this power, and I will use it to smite these pigs. "For I am Soichiro Sakurai, progenitor of-"

Some asshole ran past me and knocked me off my feet, making me drop my 3DS a few inches away from me. Looking behind me, people were starting to run back and looking for a safe place to avoid the Bullfango's. Neither the men nor the pigs were stampeding yet, but when they do hell was bound to break loose.

I stood up, brushing the dirt off my butt and secretly thankful that I wasn't trampled on by anything or anyone.

When I turned around however, a Bullfango was staring at me with the same intent in its eyes as a bull looking at a matador.

It began charging at me, sprinting with its head down ready to send me flying. I grabbed my 3DS, knowing that I still had to open it and concentrate on summoning my Monster Hunter to unleash my true power. I've only learned to do it recently, so odds are I won't transform in time.

Shit, is this how the great Soichiro Sakurai would die? I wouldn't even get the chance to be a founder of my own Culinary Arts School, all those prophecies about me would turn out to be false.

I kept my eyes open, not wanting to blink as I get trampled to death. Insctinctively I felt my arms extend and try to shield myself from the incoming wild boar of doom.

A shot rang out, and something whizzed past my ear.

Before I could even comprehend what was going on, the Bullfango charging at me dropped dead, its corpse skidding past me as I stood there like a dumbass, wondering who helped me cheat death.

"Get the fuck out of here!" A female voice shouted at me from behind. Turning around, I saw a Monster Hunter in full-black armor, possibly a Nerscylla armor set or so. Behind her, two more hunters ran up and started attacking the Bullfangos like they were a walk in the park. "Oh man, I hope the car's okay," she mentioned as she reloads and fires another shot.

One of them was in a blue, knight-like armor, with golden ornaments adorning his look. The dual blades he was using was bluer than his armor, and left a trail of green slime on the wounds it inflicted which eventually sparked and exploded. All around me giant pigs were being slashed and turning into ticking time bombs.

The other one wore a dark brown armor set that was reminiscent of a Brute Tigrex. I've played the game enough to know a hunting horn when I see one, too. His HH had giant smiley faces on the part you use to hit your enemies with. With every melody he played, the aura around him and his allies grow stronger and brighter, and pretty soon all three of them were taking down enemies with ease.

Still, there were too many Bullfangos for all three of them to handle. I owe these people my life, and for all I know, maybe with them I'll find a place where I can belong. And along the way, maybe they can help me achieve my dream.

I opened my 3DS, memories of all my training flashing before my eyes.

As I've said before, it's time for everyone to see my true form.

* * *

Ready.

Aim.

Fire.

I repeat the process for every giant pig I see, making sure that none of them sneak up to Saber or Dirge. My skills allow me to fight nearby without being noticed by monsters, but I keep myself vigilant just in case. The civilian I had saved a while ago was clearly the one we had street-passed, and now his DS was out and he was glowing like a pokemon undergoing evolution.

Looks like we're in for a treat. With all these Bullfangos around, we could use every help we can get. Part of me wondered, where the police or any officials were, but it was possible there were more within the area that they have to take care of. Or maybe the officials knew who we were and left the matter in our somewhat capable hands.

More coming near Dirge. I load a Pierce ammo and aimed in a way to line them up.

"Sidestep, jack-ass!" I yell at Dirge as I fire, shooting straight at three Bullfangos and nearly hitting Dirge who managed to jump aside in time. He didn't get much time to rest as another Bullfango tackled him, and would've sent him flying had he not used his hunting horn's handle to block and hold off the attack.

"That'll do, pig," He said as he stepped aside and slammed his HH down on his assailant, crushing it along with the pavement below it. "That'll do."

Dirge's Babe reference caught me offguard, and it was too late when I noticed a Bullfango about to send Saber flying. He was demon-dancing several other pigs and had his back to the one charging at him.

Before I could shout at the idiot about to get his ass tackled, a giant and nearly human-sized knife came out of nowhere and sent the pig flying skyhigh. I looked at its wielder, seeing a hunter in a chef attire, holding the huge knife. He must've used the back of the knife to hit the pig without cutting it.

The Bullfango was still in mid-air, and it was now falling fast, straight toward the chef.

"Sky-Knife Technique number 1," He whispered, but somehow he was in our comms and we could all hear him, " _ **Nagareboshi Tonkatsu!**_ "

The Bullfango landed on the ground…in pieces. Edges of where it had been cut were burnt, the kind of burnt that you usually see on fried chicken and similar cooked food.

Wait, what just happened?

"Awesome!" I heard Saber shout as he fights side-by-side with our newfound ally. "What's your name?"

"Soichiro Sakurai," the chef replied as he slashes at another pig with his greatsword. There was something off with the way he fought…wait.

I looked closer at him, noticing that he wielded the GS like it was a knife, different from how Greatswords are usually held. What's more curious is the fact the he's only using one hand to hold his weapon.

He blocks an attack like a typical GS user, but when he stepped back and held the giant knife sideways and cut the enemy in half with strange precision, he truly looked like a chef preparing his ingredients.

"Take this you bumbling tomato!" He shouted as he turned one of the Bullfangos into a literal minced meat. "By the way, my codename's Rezamesu."

"Quirky name, and he has his own swears!" Dirge commented as he spun around, mimicking the hammer-users' charged moving attack. "I should have my own swears too…"

The herd started thinning out, but there was still something that was bothering me. All these Bullfangos can't possibly just go on a rampage without some kind of leader right?

Sure enough, a giant Bulldrome was running through the street, and after noticing us, started charging toward us.

We all leaped out of the way as the giant boss-pig trampled everything in its path. I managed to shoot it while I was somersaulting in mid-air, but we all know that won't be enough.

Before I could even get my bearings back, Saber was already sprinting towards the Bulldrome. The Bulldrome was prepared to charge again, so I used my personal skill Widowmaker and fired a powerful piercing bullet to make it flinch. The desired effect happened and Saber was able to get close to the Bulldrome without being attacked.

The Bulldrome must be enraged by now, since Saber's glove was glowing red, a sign of the Challenger+2 skill taking effect.

"Watch this guys!" Saber shouted as he demonizes.

* * *

I have never felt so awesome in my life.

Is this the thrill that every hunter gets when they fight these gigantic beasts? My heart is pounding in ways I can't describe. Fear, Adrenaline, they're all mixing together with every monster I cut down.

But even better, is seeing all these other hunters capable of so much more than what the game allowed.

Right now, I'm watching the dual blades user unleash a storm of slashes at a Bulldrome. The giant Pumba couldn't even do anything to fight back and looks like he's caught in a super move, like in Dynasty or Hyrule Warriors. The star-knight was glowing all shades of red as he moves with inhuman speed, slashing here and there, a blast with every hit, making the Bulldrome look like a fortress being bombarded by cannons.

"STARBURST…" The Star-knight growls as he makes his final cut across the enemy's large body, finishing with a cross cut that makes him look more like a ninja who just ran through and cut his opponent without looking back. "…FLURRY." He says in a calm demeanor without losing the feel of rage in his voice, and as he turns away from his enemy and sheathes his weapons, the Bulldrome underwent a powerful explosion one final time. It was like watching the Power Rangers when they finish an enemy before it becomes gigantic.

Star-Knight stumbled and fell to his knee, explaining that such a move drains a lot from him and he doesn't know how long he has before he unsyncs.

Amazing, to think that these hunters are just as capable as I am with pulling off attacks like this. And he named his special move too, just like in Animes and Video games. Whether I like it or not, these people have gained my respect.

"You weren't so bad either, Rezamesu," the HH-user said, extending a hand which I shook in an instant. He carried himself differently from the others, and even though the girl acts like she's the bad-est of the three of them, the HH guy had an aura about him that made me assume he was the leader. "We could use someone like you in our guild."

This is it, they were actually going to recruit me. All my life people have avoided me because, let's face it, they couldn't keep up with my awesomeness. But these guys, they just might have what it takes to be a part of my story. To think that I have finally found the ones I was destined to fight alongside with, I felt like I was going to cry tears of joy.

Unconsciously, I look at the smoking corpse of the Bulldrome…and found out that it wasn't a corpse just yet.

"That eggplant sucker's still alive," I smirked, readying my weapon and charging at the staggering beast. That's right, I ought to show those guys how powerful I truly am.

"Oh, toddler tits," the HH user said and the sniper elbowed him, "What? I wanted to have my own swear."

I hold my blade straight and point it directly at my enemy, imagining myself looking like Ichigo Kurosaki about to go Bankai. The beast sees the challenge as we glare at each other, and starts charging at me. I will all my hunter's energy to flow into my giant knife as I raise it up with one hand as if I was chopping food.

"Sky-Knife Technique no. 27. _**Niku…**_ "

A split second was all I needed. The tusks of the Bulldrome are inches away from my face, and I bring my knife down.

" **…Hakaisha.** "

* * *

Things happened too fast and it took me awhile to understand what exactly happened. One second the Bulldrome was about to drive its tusks at Rezamesu then the next it was cut perfectly in half, with none of its guts spilling out. It was like there were two anatomical models of a wild boar lying by Reza's feet. Just like before, the edges where the knife had cut were…cooked.

Saber and Arachnid were more than happy to have him in our team, so we barely needed to discuss recruiting him. After leaving the battlefield and regrouping inside the tent, I approached 'Soichiro' to ask him if he really wants to join us.

"Hey, um, Indigo, right?" He asks. We had already introduced ourselves to each other under a pact of anonymity and secrecy. He had already changed out of his 'waiter' uniform and was wearing a Survey Corps. Themed jacket over a white shirt and rugged looking denim pants. "So I take it you're the boss?"

"Actually, Amy's the boss," I replied, "She also pays for everything. Nobody designs anything and we're all in charge of making ourselves look cooler. I like to think of myself as their leader, not their boss."

"So I'm in?"

"We all like how you fight," I continued, walking with him outside as I show him a staff ID I picked up a while ago. It had his face on the photo but the name says Charlie Anderson. "But I don't think you're much of a team player, Charlie."

His face grew sour, like I had just told him that he was adopted or something. He looked down and said, "That's not my real name. That's the fake name my fake parents gave me. But deep inside, I know who I really am."

I look him over to see if he could be lying to me, and saw that he most likely wasn't. Judging by his face, and his accent, the name in the ID was most definitely real. Either somebody brainwashed this guy, or he was delusional.

Am I really going to let his guy with his…fantasies become a part of the Raptor Bros? It may just seem like a simple guild but they're my family. Which means if I recruit him, then by definition he becomes as good as family.

I look at Charlie again, trying to see whether or not I have any qualms with his philosophy, gauging if he is worthy of being a part of my family.

"So you won't let me join then, because I didn't introduce myself using my legal name?" He broke the silence, looking at me with blank eyes, eyes I've seen before.

Just like mine, years ago when the paraphilia inside of me was just beginning to show. I remembered the way my parents reacted when I told them that I was attracted to children and all they told me was that I was still immature and it was just a phase. I've seen those eyes before, those were the same blank eyes that I had when I practiced my poker face in the mirror so that when my parents talked to me I can pretend that I was over that phase, that I was normal again.

"I never said I wouldn't let you join," I replied, wondering how close I was to nearly being a hypocrite. "I was worried that you didn't trust us enough to give us your legal name. Why don't you use it anyway?"

"I… I just think that Soichiro Sakurai is a name that truly encompasses who I am. "

"And it's all about who you are, isn't it?" I replied, not meaning anything in particular but trying to make it look that I know how it feels. The need to over exaggerate your own image is not a new sensation to me. Instead of making myself a new identity, all I did was extremely focus on what makes me… _me._ "I guess I kinda get it. I don't really have the right to tell you who you are."

He looked at me like I just said something important, with eyes that finally show who he really is. It's not so different to the eyes I see in my mirror every morning when I think about all the children and tell myself that I would do anything to protect them.

"You really mean that?" He asks.

"I guess." I replied, smiling sheepishly, to think that I would get into this kind of conversation. "Look, if you wanna be Charlie or Soichiro, it's okay. You can join us."

He smiles, noting more nothing less.

"But when you join us," I continued, looking over at the horizon to look cool. "We'll need you to be who you truly are, not just who you think you are or who you want people to think you are. All the good things, the bad things, we need the whole package. Trust me, we're all equally crazy, we can handle the real you."

He nods, and I give him back his ID, along with our HQ's address.

* * *

Amy, Char, Xavier, Yuri, Yuel, and Frank and I we're all playing Smash Bros. in the HQ's WiiU when our doorbell rang. I opened the door to see the chef from yesterday looking nervous and excited to be at our doorstep.

"Good morning, I guess you've decided?" I asked, motioning my hands to let him in.

"Yes," he replies, "But first, allow me to introduce myself."

We all sat by the sofa as we watch him do his thing.

"My name is Charlie Anderson," He begins, standing perfectly straight like a soldier. "I'm not completely sure who I really am, but if you let me, then we can all find ourselves together. And as a member of this team…no, this family…"

Charlie smiles and glances at each of us, and we all smile back as he puts his hand at his waist and poses like a main character in an anime.

"Allow me to be your blade! The progenitor of the Sky-Knife School of Culinary Arts will cut down any foe that seeks to bring harm to us!"

We all applaud.

"Also I will cook for you!"

We applaud louder.


	11. Chapter 11: Late Christmas Special

Chapter 11: Late Christmas Special

"Are you stupid?" Amy asks, arms crossed as she looks at me with an air of annoyance. "We're halfway in April."

"Yeah, mate," Charlie added, nibbling on a slice of apple. "It's a wee bit late for a Christmas party don't you think?"

They were right of course, 4 months late is quite the expiry date for a christmas party, but dammit as the self-appointed leader of this group I'm not backing down. Work's been a bit slow after we recruited Charlie, and during the holidays the Raptor Bros. were mostly split up to spend time with our families. As a group, and as a pseudo-family in our own right, I feel like it's a huge crime to not have a Christmas Party.

"I mean, think about it guys," I tell the two people in front of me. It was summer vacation but the other guys besides Amy and Charlie were busy with stuff they needed to do for the day. "We can play actual party games. Charlie can cook up a buffet. We can all wear matching sweaters and have an awkard group photo. Amy and I can make out under a mistletoe."

"The only thing I approve is the awkward group photo," Amy scoffed, not even getting too offended with my joke.

"And what's with the buffet?" Charlie asked, looking more offended than Amy should be, "I'm willing to cook for our meals, but a whole buffet's a bit much, _innit?_ "

I shrugged, those were all just iceberg-tips of ideas for a party. I have, and will always be 75% of an introvert so I didn't really know much about partying.

"Besides," Amy asked, "Where are we gonna spend it in? Partying in the headquarters just seems too bland."

She had a point, so in the end we adjourned with no idea what to do next. We decided to wait until the whole group was available in the weekend before we discussed the issue further.

After a not-so-boring gaming marathon, which is actually just the three of us taking turns with Amy's WiiU playing Xenoblade Chronicles X, the other kids finally made it to the HQ.

Fast forward to random conversations, and we finally find ourselves discussing the Christmas-New Year-Valentine's-Summer Party.

"That's kind of dumb," was all my sister had to say. Frank had a lot of research paper to worry about, but I'm glad that she still manages to spend time with us every once and a while. "But I guess we could use a little loosening up."

"Yeah, my mind is already in vacation mode," Xavier added, nodding at my party idea, "Summer wont last forever, a little partying is what we need."

The twins, always being agreeable and care-free, were more than happy to have a party.

"Just make sure to have ice cream!" Yuri pointed out, "And lots of cake!"

"Don't forget the games, and the prizes!" Yuel followed.

That got everyone into a good mood. Besides monster hunting and video games, it's a safe bet that were all bonded together by a love for food.

"Alright, then we should make some kind of assignments," I announced, feeling a bit giddy that we're having some kind of activity we can finally do as a whole group. I always thought that we were always incomplete in missions, so it's nice to do something with everyone every once in a while.

I had to assign people within four categories: Food, Venue, Budget, and Activites.

Yuri and Charlie can take care of the food.

"Yes!" Yuri fist-pumped the air.

"Expected, but I'll do my best." Charlie nodded with a thumbs up.

Amy obviously should handle the budget, and I thought Char would be a good treasurer.

"Do you want to have a party, or a savings account?" Char asked, noting that no money would be spent if he was anywhere near it.

Amy and I would handle the budget then.

Xavier and Yuel can think of activities we can do.

"Does it have to be physical?" Xavier asked, "or can we just play smash brothers for the whole day?"

"I think you're missing the point," Yuel said, "although we would perfect for an 8-man free for all."

Lastly, Frank and Char can scope out a venue.

"Does it need to be a team building kind of place," Frank asked, taking notes, "Or just an events venue, like the one they use on seminars?"

"I have no idea." I replied as honestly as I can, "I'm honestly just bulshitting my way through things here."

"Ain't we all," Amy added, and with that, our meeting was adjourned and we were all excited for the upcoming party. There's nothing better to look forward to than a happy gathering full of fun and games and just chilling around fattening ourselves up.

Of course, as usual, everything went to shit.

* * *

The moment Indigo decided to partner with me to take care of the budget, I knew that everything would go wrong. He may act like someone who's good at strategy, and god knows I've seen him apply effective tactics in daily life before, but he sucks at managing money. He wastes his money on every video game and action figure that catches his eye, and he knows that he has this problem, but he's not exactly trying to fix it. Indigo acts like a simpleton who just loves kids, but he's an extravagant asshole who spends more money on his luxury than his actual needs.

"Did you have to put it that way?" He asks after I finish lecturing him. "How'd you even know about my buying habits?"

"Well you keep yammering about the things you buy and want to buy everytime we hang out. I mean do you REALLY need to pre-order every new game you plan to buy?!"

"The contents make it worth it."

"Pre-order bonus contents are usually only useful in the early part of a game, after that they're just junk!" I threw my hands up in disappointment, wondering why I sounded so pissed. "In any case, all I'm saying is you leave all the buying for the party to me. You might just end up buying anything that looks ideal for the party."

He agreed, and I made a checklist of what we may need to buy, plus the amount of budget we may need to allot for the food, the venue, and the other stuff we need to do.

Most of which, for some reason, became null and void when the venue was decided.

* * *

As it turns out, Frank and Char found the perfect venue for us: A theme park. Being mostly kids and a lot of young-at-heart, the whole group was more than happy to party at a theme park instead of anywhere else. Of course, this pretty much removes the need for activities and prepared food. The theme park in and of itself is full of things for us to do, while the fast food chains and restaurants around the area would be enough for the food. Most of the budget was then spent in getting us Ride-All-you-Can tickets and separating enough for an Eat all you can buffet, pretty much wasting the time Amy spent preparing budget allocations the other day.

"I'd say a theme park is a crappy idea," Amy crossed her arms with a smirk, "But frankly I haven't been to a regular, local theme park before."

"Hey, The Enchanted Star is one of the biggest, bestest theme park in the country." Yuel noted, perking his index finger up like a genius.

"Sorry, I've been to Disneyland Hong Kong and Universal Studios Singapore,so…" Amy replied, but then probably realized that arguing with a kid is unbecoming of her, trailed off. "In any case, I've never gone to these places with friends so the experience would probably improve."

Yuri giggled, saying, "Wow you called us your friends."

"Yeah that's a first," Xavier added, raising his eyebrow at her.

For a moment I swear I saw Amy blush, then went full-on tsundere on us, spouting things like she didn't mean it, and that the only reason she was with us was because she needed reliable combat allies, etc.

I took a step back and absorbed the enjoyable view of my whole group 'getting along'. A few months ago the Raptor Bros. started with just us three: Xavier, Char, and Me. Who knew that the moment we transformed and fought that Khezu, things would escalate into this? And in such a short time too.

I couldn't help but smile as I look forward to what else could happen as we progress further as an organization, or even as a family. Who knows, maybe we'll even get lucky enough to become famous and-

"Oy, what you lookin' all spaced out for, mate?" I was brought back to reality, Charlie waving a hand in front of me. "Don't worry, I'm sure this party would go smoothly."

"If you've been with us longer," I grinned for no reason other than to look cool, "You'll know that's not true."

* * *

"My name is Captain Simon Waltz, and I am in a hostage situation."

I look over at the once proud and slightly arrogant police guy, his face looking as if his soul had come undone. He was broken, no longer the badass that stopped a Deviljho from slaughtering our asses before. And we are all to blame for that.

"Particularly, mine." Simon continues, looking down at the pavement we were walking on. He looks at Char with a strange mix of contempt and concern, "Could you please explain why the hell you dragged me all the way with you in this theme park?!"

Well, technically, Char was to blame for that. It was his idea to bring Capt. Waltz here with us for the 'whatever' party. Being the leader, I was okay with that, since we kinda owed him.

But he wasn't the only 'Plus One'. Frank brought Ray along, she's Xavier's older sister and our cousin. Xavier brought his 'not girlfriend' Julie. I brought no one with me as most of my friends are all part of the group, and I didn't really care for anyone outside of that circle.

Amy, surprisingly and to my unadulterated pleasure, brought Claire with her.

"Don't get any ideas," She hissed at me before I can even say hello to her classmate.

"Hi Mister!" Claire beamed at me as she waved a hand, "I heard that Amy was having a party so I wanted to come along, I hope I'm no trouble."

There is no way in hell you would ever be trouble in my eyes, sweetheart.

Apparently, I said that out loud, as Amy brings me back to reality with a kick to my shin.

Claire giggled which caused the twins to laugh, or was it the other way around? In any case, the group became larger and the simple party idea became a field trip to an amusement park.

"How exactly did you get the copper to go with us?" I heard Amy ask Char.

"I told him that it was an emergency." Char said.

Simon butted in, looking serious but also looking like he's enjoying himself, "Actually, he promised to pay for my expenses today."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Char looked like he was going to have a heart attack, "Hell no!"

Frank butted in, looking like an assassin with her hood up and her hands pocketed, "Chillax, we got a budget for this remember?"

Char calmed down, and I switched my attention somewhere else.

The twins, Yuel and Yuri, were practically running around the place, with Yuel doing things in a more hyper way. They wanted to ride this one, no this one, no this one, and so on.

"We can ride some of them," Claire pointed out, "But for the others we need adult supervision."

"That's actually why I brought Cap here,"Char replied,crossing his arms, "I don't trust Indigo or Charlie to be capable of babysitting us."

"Oy!" Charlie raised his fist, "I'll have you know that the Ancient Gods themselves blessed me with awesome babysitting abilities."

"Me too," I replied, "Though I'm not sure if my babysitting abilities were godsent or hellspawn."

Claire giggled again, and Amy stood in front of us arms akimbo.

"We don't need no men to take care of us," She harrumphed, "We're big girls you know."

"Damn," I thought aloud, "That's quite a turn on, to be honest."

Simon punched me in the shoulder so hard I thought he dislocated it, "What is wrong with you?! You do understand I'm a cop right?"

* * *

After a weird slapstick routine between Simon and Indigo, I thought that I could finally get some alone time with Julie.

"So um, how you doin' so far?" I asked, trying not to stutter. Even though we were comfortable with one another, I was still head over heels for her and that usually turns me into a clumsy lovesick fool sometimes.

"I'm having fun," She replies, looking even more beautiful than she did when we had a picnic date (sort of). "You sure have some quirky friends, huh?"

"They're not friends," I replied, looking at Indigo trying to take a 'harem' selfie with Amy and Claire. I looked over at Char telling the twins not to run around too much and not to buy anything without his permission. I looked at my sister and Frank sharing college stories while walking with us.

"They're family."

* * *

"So, Frank," Ray says as she pocketed her cellphone, "I've heard all about this monster hunting business from my little brother."

I looked at her with an inquisitive glance, wondering if she wanted to join the group. She may be a bit of a tomboy but as far as I know she's a pacifist.

"Are you going to be fighting with them when a monster shows up? Xavier said you've been training."

Speaking of training, I told Oscar Chase to meet us here, but looks like he really doesn't like to hang out with many people.

"I guess I will," I replied sincerely, "My brother, your brother, and Char. And even Amy and the twins and Charlie are all fighting with their lives on the line. Me and Indigo are like partners-in-crime, we always got each other's backs."

"So you want to fight alongside him? You know this isn't some video game where we're allowed to mess up right?"

I knew that. Thinking back when we were kids I was a considerably ok gamer, but Ray didn't have much of an aptitude with it. Most of the time when were playing Smash Bros. she would usually just luck her way through every battle. I, on the other hand, was proud of my skills in spamming Ganondorf's charge punch attack. We're not like the three boys in the family that overthinks every move, every choice they make in a video game, us girls were the button smashers. So I guess I could get why Ray was a bit concerned with me becoming a hunter.

"I'm confident with our brothers' skills," I replied with a smile, looking at Indie as he explains the fine points of child erotica to Charlie, who is apparently into anime girls with monster-sized titties. How they can talk like that with Simon next to them, I will never know. "But look at them, they're a mess. Someone has to keep them alive."

"Well," Ray ponders, "You're not wrong."

"Besides," I tell her as I show her my MH4U avatar, "I've been doing a lot of grinding behind the scenes you know!"

I just wish I'll have the balls to fight when the time comes.

* * *

For an amusement park, it was definitely amusing. It was considerably acceptable considering the price for the ride-all-you can tickets that we paid for, and most of the rides seem par with the advertised quality of their theme park.

"Hey Amy," Claire tapped my shoulder, looking worried, "What's with the straight serious face? Aren't you having fun?"

"Nah," I replied, waving off her worry. Deep inside I was still wondering how we ever actually became friends. She was just a recent transfer student, and an incredibly carefree one at that. The only seat available at the time was next to mine, and even though I was just giving her the bare minimum of non-hostility required, she somehow translated that to me being friendly. She always pestered me every day, asking stuff about family, and how I'm friends with a Monster Hunter like Indigo, and if I already watched the latest episode of Steven Universe.

"Let me guess," Indigo butted in, placing himself between me and Claire and putting his arms around us, "You're trying to think of a way to make this into a date. Just like Xavier did, that sneaky bastard."

I gave him the coldest glare I could give, and he just grinned at me like he always does. Is this what my life has come to, a repetitive comedy routine as a kid who keeps shooting down the pedophile making crappy advances at me?

Oh what a time to be alive.

"In any case," Indigo straightened up, "Doesn't look like I can take you to the extreme shuttle."

Well that got my attention, "The fuck is that?"

Indigo gestured towards a gigantic roller coaster, with twists and turns and loop-de-loops that seem oh so gravity defying. The ride itself was designed to look like, you guessed it, a shuttle. A white and blue car chained to a bunch of white and red cars with sci-fi related decals all over them follow the tracks with such speed that you kinda wonder if it would suddenly just launch itself off the tracks. By my estimate, that ride would be 3 a minute scream fest of galactic proportions.

Too bad we couldn't ride it.

"I'm sorry for being too short," Claire mumbled, looking down.

"Don't worry about it," He replied, patting her head like a puppy. "We'll come back when you're bigger."

Claire smiled sweetly at him, something she does to everyone. "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," Indigo smiled just as sweetly at her, their pinky fingers locking like some weird and disturbing foreshadowing. Frankly, I'm a bit jealous that he didn't promise to take me to the ride when I get bigger too, but I'm not that desperate to ride it.

"Speaking of which," I asked, "where are the others?"

Apparently they all left us to ride the Extreme Shuttle. Since Yuri and Yuel can't ride either, Char brought them with him to buy snacks.

So much for group bonding.

* * *

"Damn this can of soda is expensive." I said to no one in particular as I watch my twin brothers snack on some popcorn. "Why are you guys even eating popcorn? We're not watching a movie."

"We didn't feel like eating a corndog," Yuri replied.

"Yeah," Yuel seconded his twin.

"First of all, that makes no sense," I went straight to brotherly lecture mode. "Second, we all agreed to buy corndogs for everyone so they'll have something to eat after they ride the roller coaster."

"Extreme Shuttle!" Both of them corrected me.

"Right,right," I sighed, "Extreme Shuttle."

Come to think of it, Indigo also has kids with him, so he's probably just waiting somewhere for the others.

I was about to call him when a loud noise rumbled around us. A whole bag of flavors was opened: screeching metal, screaming people, and the loud crash and rumble of something large plowing through the concrete ground.

I remember Indigo joking around days ago about how our lives are usually boring and free of monster hunting quests when we have free time. But once we're busy chilling around and having fun, a monster would most likely magically show up to fuck us up. It was like a reverse deus-ex-machina, he said.

Guess he was right.

* * *

When people start panicking, I used to assume that it was either a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or some famous celebrity. In this case it was a monster, which can honestly be considered as a bit of those three I mentioned. In any case, I need to get Claire somewhere safe before Amy and I can go to whatever monster is causing this.

For once, we were running along with the crowd, away from the monster. I held both Amy and Claire's hand as I looked for a safe place for the kid to stay. Since Frank was also going to be fighting, the only non-hunter I can ask to look after Claire would be Ray and Julie. Unfortunately, both were with most of the group in the Extreme Shuttle.

Wait, the Extreme Shuttle. What if my sister and the others get stranded up there? How will Char, Amy, and I ask for backup if they can't even get out of there?

Worst case scenario, it's just the three of us, but that leaves Claire alone.

Dammit, think Indigo, you're the strategist. First, I need to know what we're up against.

Chatter from the panicking people gave me hints of a 'giant snake' and 'ear piercing explosive rocks'.

"Could be a Najarala," Amy said as we took shelter inside a restaurant where other people were hiding. "Or a Dalamadur, but I doubt that God would hate us that much."

"Yeah," I replied, racking my mind for ideas, "A Dalamadur would be too catastrophic we'd probably be dead by now."

My cellphone rang, thankfully, and I remembered that the twins were with Char. This makes things slightly easier.

I talked with Char our gathered intel and told him to try to take down the potential Najarala with the twins while I try to get the others.

"Don't worry," He replied confidently, although I could feel some anxiety in his voice, "All three of us have shields, a simple Najarala won't take us down."

That takes care of that, so I faced Amy and Claire to discuss our tactic. Amy looked concerned but was hardly panicking, and although Claire was clearly shaken she seems to have calmed down.

"You should let me go with Char," Amy said standing up, "I can support them enough."

"You can fight too?" Claire asked, looking genuinely worried for Amy, "Stay here with us, it's too dangerous!"

"Bitch you know I can handle it!," Amy snapped back, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Sorry. I'm scared too, but I need to help them."

My phone rang again, and this time it was Frank.

"What the heck is going on down there?!" She asked, the background being disturbed by a windy noise. She sounded like she was about to have a panic attack, "The ride stopped and we're stuck up here!"

Shit.

"Calm down," I replied, thankful that they're more or less okay, "Is everyone fine?"

"Yeah, Charlie and I already stopped hyperventilating."

"Good, we may have a Najarala problem down here, did any of you bring your DS?"

"Damn we all left them in our bags. We had to put the bags in a locker for safekeeping while on the ride."

Crap, that means they won't be of any use until they get back down. That also means that they're very invulnerable right now. So now I have to look for a safe place for Claire, get the others down from the extreme shuttle, and help Char and the twins stop a Najarala.

Alright, how should I approach this?

* * *

Well, technically Indigo was right about the Najarala. My brothers and I instantly saw a hundred-foot(or so) rock-ish plated snake with legs crawling and slithering around the park. It looked pissed, and the worst part was that it wasn't green and yellow.

It was mostly purple.

"Fuck," I whispered even though the twins have heard me curse before, "We've got a Tidal Najarala on our hands."

"You mean on our park," Yuel commented.

"Wah-wah, that joke sucked," Yuri snickered.

As if hearing Yuel's crappy joke, the Tidal 'Rala turned it's bird-like head and glared at us, as if knowing that we were hunters even before we transformed.

"Looks like we can't wait for back-up," I spoke up, "Sync up with your hunters, we'll keep this baby confined within this area until the others arrive. Otherwise, we kill it ourselves."

Yuri and Yuel didn't bother with their anime-like transformation speech and synced up as quickly as I did. The feeling of the Charge Blade's shield in my hand was very comforting, and that same time I felt hyped up.

We didn't have much time to think as the Tidal bitch swung its tail at us, sending scales nearly as big as our bodies flying toward us. We jumped out of the way and tried to stay as far away as possible from the scales now planted dangerously on the pavement.

"I'll take you down right now!" Yang(Yuel's lancer) threw his shield away and ran straight for the snake wyvern in full speed. The 'Rala countered with an aqua ball aimed at him but Yang managed to sidestep without breaking a sweat. The Gore EX armor set he wore looked like a shadow speeding through the ground.

What he didn't notice was that the aqua ball had ricocheted at a nearby scale and was about to bounce back straight at him.

"Look out!" I shouted as I ran to protect one of my brothers, knowing full well that I was not fast enough to actually make it in time.

"I got this!" I heard Yuri's voice, in the form of Yin, shout back. Before I knew it, a white blur came out of nowhere and blocked the aqua ball before it even got close to Yang. It took me a while to realize that Yin somehow used his gunlance shot attack as a propeller to get him closer to Yang.

I gave him a thumbs up as I ran towards the 'Rala myself, while slashing my sword around and breaking any scales that got in my way.

Part of me was curious as to whether or not the Najarala can burrow underground if the ground was mostly concrete, but I decided to cross that bridge when I got there.

Yang was already poking wherever he could while running around and dodging the 'Rala's attacks. He should have the advantage, I thought, since he had a piercing weapon, and decided to just focus on doing what I do best and charge my weapon.

I told Yin and Yang to focus on the enemy's face while I try to break its feet. I can worry about using my 'Mjolnir Strike' once its been downed.

"Come on guys, hurry up," I said to no one in particular, hoping the other Raptor Brothers arrive soon. "I still have some bad-ass new forms on my weapon that I need to show off."

* * *

"This may seem a bit inappropriate," Indigo asked, turning to Claire as we ran towards the Extreme Shuttle were the other team members are, "But remember that time at your school and was fighting a giant wolf and…"

"Let me stop you right there," I cut him off, stopping him right there.

"I was just wondering if Claire was wearing underwear today," Indigo smirked as if it was a normal thing to say. "Truth be told I was never asking any of you to lift your skirts back then. I was telling myself to literally lift my hunting horn to get the Zinogre off me. Guess, your friend misunderstood."

"Oops," Claire said, holding up a peace sign with her hand for some reason, "Sorry."

Indigo smiled at her and pat her head, which was apparently possible even though we were running, "Don't be. I found a hidden strength within me that day. I always joke that I'm stronger when there are kids around, and apparently there was a sort of truth to that."

"Wow," I replied, trying to seem apathetic, "That's a convoluted way to get someone to show you her vagina."

"Yeah," Claire agreed with a giggled, seemingly undisturbed and cheerful as ever. "But, sorry again, I'm wearing undies today. I kinda have to or my pad would fall off."

I could swear that Indigo had a mini heart attack and nearly fell down on the pavement. But we all kept running anyway, and for more than a minute there was an awkward silence.

When we reached the aptly named rollercoaster, it was unnerving to watch our friends sit helplessly high up in the air. It didn't help that the sound of the nearby monster was getting nearer.

"This may seem a bit inappropriate," Indigo said as we stared at the roller coaster, "But maybe you should consider using a tampon instead."

* * *

"We've got a Tidal Najarala down there," I heard Simon say with an annoyed sigh, "And it's getting closer."

The other people were starting to get antsy and panicky as we watched a gigantic purple snake-ish monster slither closer to our ride of doom. Whatever Relena and the twins were doing was not very effective in keeping the enemy contained.

"Where's your brother, Frank?" I heard Ray ask me just as my phone rang. It's funny how I thought to bring my phone in my pocket but not my DS. Then again…

"Amy and Claire are gonna look for a way to get you guys down," He said, "I'm gonna help Relena, Yin, and Yang."

I relayed the news to the team and they all breathe a sigh of relief. Well, all except Charlie, Simon and I. Charlie still looks terrified and I can only assume he has a fear of heights (and I can relate to him) while Simon just looks impatient and pissed. I, on the other hand, was trying my best to fight off the anxiety in my brain that was slowly travelling through my whole body.

"Screw this," Simon said, trying to stand up and lift up the steel handle keeping us in our seat. Charlie was sitting with him so he started screaming bloody murder as Simon tried to get out of his seat.

"What in the holy onions are you doing?!" He screamed, "Are you trying to turn us into mashed potatoes?!"

"I ain't gonna wait for those kids to get themselves killed." He said roughly as he lifted the steel handle up, Charlie holding onto whatever he can for dear life. "I'm jumping down there."

"Are you crazy?!" We all said.

"Rule number one," He replied without looking down, taking what looked like a 3DS out of his pocket, "Always bring your weapon with you."

Then he took a step and fell off the ride.

* * *

Things are not looking good for us. With Yang moving around with no shield, Yin not reacting fast enough, and me worrying too much about them to notice that an attack was coming, we were all technically wiped out in one wide sweep from the Tidal Najarala. Well, technically we weren't taken out, we just all went flying towards a nearby food stand and it took us a while to get back up. Before we knew it, the Tidal Najarala was already scrurrying towards the Extreme Shuttle were the other Raptors sat helplessly above ground.

We heard Dirge through our comms so I assumed he had transformed into hunter form and was going our way to intercept the .

"You guys ok?" He asked and we all confirmed with a yes. "Good, try to catch up with the monster, Bellum and I will try to stop it before it gets anywhere near the populated areas like the shuttle."

"Wait, I thought Simon was on the ride?"

"Yeah, but I saw him jump off, transform to Bellum, and just hunter/superhero landed on the ground without flinching."

I couldn't help but grin as I imagined him doing it, damn it would really be nice if Bellum joined our team. He seems like such a badass.

"We're good," Yin said with Yang nodding beside him.

"Alright," I replied, pumping myself up for round 2, "Time for our revenge."

* * *

"By the way," I spoke up as Bellum and I faced the Naja, "Thanks for the help."

"I haven't exactly helped yet," He replied, "Thank me when we we're done here."

I agreed. And without a blink of an eye I tried to think of a good strategy for us. I knew nothing about Bellum's actual skills or combat ability except for that time I saw him shoot a Deviljho to get it stumbling into our trap.

I'll just wing this, I thought, and we both charged at the enemy with guns blazing. Both figuratively and literally.

As I tried to avoid attacks while setting up recitals and encores, I noticed that Bellum relied heavily on rapid fires and crag shots on his light bowgun. From afar it made him look like a special forces soldier with a grenade launcher equipped rifle.

He is surprisingly adept with his weapon, barely losing ground as he uses hit and run tactics and reloads with inhuman speed.

I saw an opportunity and swung my hunting horn straight at the Najarala's face, causing it to flinch. Bellum must have seen an opportunity himself as he shouted at me to move aside as he starts firing point blank at the enemy.

The thing is, this time he wasn't just firing with a light bowgun.

He was firing with two.

For some reason he was now dual wielding and was effortlessly shooting with a light bowgun in each hand.

This might not be so hard after all, I thought, until Arachnid's voice popped in our comms.

"Guys, we might have a bit of a complication," She said.

"Oh toddler tits."

* * *

"What the hell man?!" I scolded Dirge, as we have already agreed long ago that he would never use his 'personalized swear term' ever again. "Of all the things for you to say-"

"Whatever Arachnid what the hell's the problem?!" He replied with an annoyed shout.

"Well,notice how I'm in a hunter form right now while talking to you?" I said as I reloaded my heavy bowgun, held my breath to aim, and took a shot. "I've got a Zamtrios on my sights right now. And it's getting close to the coaster."

"Blue or brown?"

"Blue, thankfully," I replied, taking another shot as the land shark bloated and directs its attention at me. Crap, without anyone else to cover me I'm way too vulnerable.

"Sit tight, are the others down yet?"

"Claire's working on it."

Speaking of which, where's Claire gone off to, she was supposed to be looking for the control board or whatever switch can be used to get the ride running again.

The Zamtrios started getting all roly poly on me, so I sheathed my rifle and sprinted as far away from the roller coaster as possible. I had to get this weird ball of icy doom away from the people and into a larger open space.

"Come on Fat Jaws, come and get me!" I screamed at the Zamtrios while secretly hoping that it realizes that it was getting nowhere in life and falls into a kind of depression and leaves us alone. "Come on you worthless piece of shit! You're fodder to me!"

Looks like he understood that. The Zamtrios bounced up and I ran for dear life. I quietly hoped that he wouldn't land anywhere near me or the populated rides.

Of course, that's exactly what happened. Kind of.

The Zamtrios landed with a quaking plop that shook the ground beneath me, sending tremors all around and causing the rollercoaster to shake. Screams from both random people and my teammates erupt as they hold on to dear life and hope that the roller coaster's cars won't fall of the rails.

It didn't. Thank God for small favors.

But that won't always be the case, I had to kill this ball-shark before he causes any further damage. Also, we have to make sure it doesn't team up with the Tidal Najarala the others are currently facing.

I fired a piercing shot aimed at the spot with the most flesh, in hopes that I can deal as much damage as possible and get him to deflate. The shot hit and I can see multiple strikes on his rotund body, but it wasn't enough to deflate him and he squirmed around to glare at me.

I fired as fast and as continues as possible as he starts to roll straight for me.

Dammit, none of my shots are hitting hard enough to stop him, and now it's too late to run away.

I hoped and honestly prayed that it would stop rolling before I got squished underneath, as that's not exactly a sensation I was planning on experiencing.

Darkness looms over me as I watch the gigantic flesh ball of the Zamtrios inch closer, feeling tinier and tinier with every millisecond that passes. I briefly wondered if dying while in Hunter form equals to dying for real, I'm gonna have to research that if I ever survive this plight.

But this sucks though, getting my ass handed to me by a fucking Zamtrios, not even the tiger striped variant.

Before the round motherfucker could even get closer to squishing me, a white blur whizzed past me and struck the Zamtrios with such ferocity it deflated and tumbled backwards.

Looking closely, I watched as whatever struck the Zamtrios spin around and fly back like a boomerang towards something behind me.

"Sorry I'm late," I hear a voice say as I watch the spinning thing land on someones hand. It took me a while to realize that it was a white shield with violet spikes protruding out of it. The person holding it was a Hunter like me, wearing what looked like a Barioth X armor set. The guy looked both figuratively and literally like a white knight from a JRPG or something. "Looks like you're getting rusty, sweetheart."

He jumped down from the table he was standing on, and swished his sword around like someone in an exhibition. His sword looks like a three pronged blade, most likely a Kirin Bolt SnS.

Wait a second, calling me sweetheart? That aura of douchebaggyness? And the way he threw the shield like a ninja Captain America?

"Oscar?!" I shouted, but he didn't reply. He just charged straight at the Zamtrios and threw his shield at it like a discus-shuriken hybrid.

The shield spun ferociously fast, generating electricity around it as it strikes the Zamtrios and grinds at it painfully, before bouncing back and ricocheting towards Oscar. The Zamtrios got pissed and grew its ice spikes out, although it's honestly at a disadvantage since it can't go underwater whatsoever.

The Zamtrios fired its mouth-ice beam in the blink of an eye, but Oscar just raised his shield and kept charging. How he's even managing to move while blocking such a powerful attack with a tiny shield I may never know. After closing the gap between him and his enemy, Oscar threw his sword at the Zamtrios' eye, causing it to flinch and roar in pain.

Before it could even recover from having a three bladed sword plunged into its eye, Oscar threw his shield again, this time aimed at his own sword. The shield struck and drove the sword deeper into the Zamtrios' eye socket, casuing it to flop on its back and move erratically like a fish out of water.

Oscar didn't waste any time and climbed the monster like it was no big deal, taking his sword and pulling it out as he jumps down. As blood gushes out of the big gaping wound that used to be an eye, I took my opportunity and fired a level 3 Crag shot straight into its eye socket.

The shot went in, and in less than a second the Zamtrios' head blew up and I could hear Oscar whooping and celebrating.

"Nice shot, sweetie." He said as he nudges the shark monster's corpse, as if it might still be alive. It wasn't, and we breathe a sigh of relief. "Did you miss me?"

"Why would I?" I replied, noticing by the corner of my eye that the roller coaster had already moved and was almost near the end of its ride. I reminded myself to thank Claire later. "With the cryptic messages and Frank saying you were training her, I figured you've been keeping tabs on us since day 1."

He had already _dequipped_ his hunter, and was already heading towards the exit. My god, Frank was right when she said Oscar kinda looked similar to Indigo. While Indigo is a bit narcissistic when it comes to the way he carries himself, Oscar seemed a bit more care-free and with absolutely no fucks to give. He was wearing a simple white shirt and khaki shorts with sandals, looking kind of like an out of place tourist or something.

"Where do you think you're going?" I ask. In all honesty, I missed him, he was my very first friend through all this shit storm. Before Indigo or any of the Raptor brothers, Oscar Chase was the one who made me feel less alone in this world. Dammit, I'm getting cheesy, "Aren't you gonna help us out? We still have a Tidal Najarala to kill."

He waved me off, and continued to walk out without looking back. As if to say, ' _I'm sure you guys could handle it._ '

* * *

"How you doin', Arachnid?" I ask as I swing my hunting horn at the Tidal Najarala's face, attempting to stun it. "Still alive baby?"

The Tidal Naja swung its tail at me and I barely blocked the attack in time. I was still sent skidding a few meters, but hey at least I can block attacks with a hunting horn now. While watching Bellum run and jump around while showering our enemy with bullets, I contemplated if I could do the same 'dog whistle' tactic like I did with the Zinogre.

Eh, not a good idea, I honestly just got lucky during that time at Amy's school.

We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. Beat it up until it dies.

"All's good on my end," Arachnid replied, "Saber and Rez are on their way, the others are going to help me evacuate civilians."

"Roger that, good job," I answered with a grin, thankful that things are starting to look less dire.

"I need to cook up some shots!" Bellum shouted through the comms, "Cover me!"

"Leave it to us," Relena answered, and she came bounding with Yin and Yang, ready to avenge their asses.

Yang and Relena flanked the Tidal Naja, the former and latter attacking from the left and right side respectively. Yin stayed in front and tried to get the enemy's attention, taunting it and banging on his shield, waiting for the perfect opportunity to blast it with his Gunlance's Wyvern Fire.

Relena started unloading her phial attacks, while Yang pierced and poked through the Tidal Naja's tough skin/scales. I buffed them up as much as I can before going back into the fray.

Saber came flying in, literally, as he had been launched by Rezamesu's Greatsword. He demon danced through the air, slicing and dicing along the Naja's face like some ninja. All the while Bellum resumed opening fire on the enemy while Rez and I charged in for the heavy strikes.

" _ **Hebi Teriyaki!**_ " Rez screamed as he unleashes a powerful and heated slash towards the Naja. It was not enough to cut through, but the scales of the enemy were reasonably singed.

I couldn't help but laugh as I swing my Hunting Horn at the enemy, "Seriously, Teriyaki?"

Rezamesu shrugged, "I say what my soul yearns to say."

"Yeah, but that's not a very cool name for a super move," Saber butted in through the comms, sounding short of breath from our all out attack. "Just because you had Japanese words in your name doesn't make you automatically anime-ish."

"I'll keep that in mind," Rez replied with a grin.

We all focused back on the fight as the Tidal Najarala started drilling itself into the pavement. Chunks of cement and dirt flew around us as the giant bird-snake with legs pierced the ground and disappeared under our feet like it was no big deal.

"Shit," I heard myself and a couple of the others say.

The ground started trembling, and with no watery soil to indicate where the enemy would come from we all went to a state of panic. Except for Bellum, who seemed calm as he stood with his legs bent, as if ready to run like hell.

We all looked around, trying to listen and feel where the enemy might pop out.

All of us stood on bated breaths, even Yang who usually never stops moving.

The ground stopped shaking, and we all held our breaths, everyone with their shields and weapons up in hopes that it protects them.

"Something's not right," Bellum said, and started to frantically look around, "It's nowhere near us."

Just as he finishes saying his words, the Tidal Najarala pops out of the ground. Right next to the roller coaster.

"Thank God we got our friends and the other people off that thing," Relena sighed with relief, and I hate to break it to her but we still can't relax.

"You know we still have to kill it right?" I asked, and as I ask the Tidal Naja started slithering **on** the Roller coaster, as if preparing to constrict it the same way a snake does its prey. Or the same way a Dalamadur does with those gigantic rock formation things, you get the gist.

"If that ride breaks, it could still hurt a lot of people," Bellum says calmly but with ferocity, "Not to mention the amount of property damage if that thing gets destroyed."

We all ran towards the coaster, which is funny since we were trying to keep away from it in the first place. Now we were at a worst case scenario, and things could easily go from bad to absolute fuck up from here on out.

"That Naja's pretty high up," Yin mentions, pointing to our enemy as it wraps the highest loop of the ride, "How are we going to get it down from there?."

"I have a plan," I reply, which was only slightly true.

* * *

None of us could understand why the Tidal Najarala was getting all tight and cuddly with the roller coaster tracks, but all we knew was that we had to stop it. It's kind of funny, nearly half a year ago I barely knew or gave a shit about this monster hunter game thing, the closest I got to an RPG was Rune Factory. I was as casual as a casual gamer could get, except when playing Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, or Mario Party. Who knew that here I am, getting ready to suit up and actually knowing the difference between a Tidal Najarala and a regular Najarala.

"I think most of the people have evacuated," Ray spoke up while staring at the T-Najarala beside me. Her quick adaption to the situation was respectable, "What's next Frank?"

"We'll wait for my brother and the others," I replied, and waved at Amy as I saw her walking towards us with a pissed off look on her face.

She nodded, "I met Oscar and then he left as soon as he got here." After shoving her hands in her dress' pockets, she continued, "But that's not my problem. Some asshole kid I passed by pointed at that thing and said,'Look mommy it's a purple Rayquaza!'"

I giggled while Ray looked dumbfounded and wondered if there was another punchline.

"Like," Amy wasn't done yet, and actually looked like she could punch someone, so I backed away a bit, "Who the fuck would even compare a Tidal Najarala to a Rayquaza?!"

I waited till she was finished rage-ranting then asked her if she could still synchronize with her hunter. She nodded, and exclaimed that she might still have some juice left.

Honestly, I was hoping to armor up and join the fight, I already had the 3DS Oscar lent me in my hand. But looking up at the Tidal Najarala, and seeing the trouble Amy had with the Zamtrios a while ago, I was still scared. It was one thing to watch my avatar run around inside a video game, with no risk to my safety whatsoever, but the idea of making a small mistake and its possible consequences was terrifying.

I was simply not yet prepared to be a real life Monster Hunter.

And I don't know if I'll ever be.

* * *

"Amy," I waved at the little girl standing next to Frank and Ray, partially wondering why she looked pissed. "Can you still transform to Arachnid?"

She nodded. Before I could even ask Frank explained that she would stay with Ray and Claire and make sure that the civilians are safe and cleared out.

"Speaking of which," Amy wondered, "Where is Claire?"

We all looked around, and noticed that she hadn't come back yet since she split up with Amy a while ago.

Yin and Yang had already run out of energy and was back to Yuri and Yuel. Yuri raised his hand and said,"We'll go look for her."

"Absolutely not," Relena rebuked before we could even fully comprehend the situation. "Not only is she older than you, you two need to rest."

"Yeah," I agreed, and considered our strategy. Minus Yin, Yang, and whoever Frank's hunter could be, there was still Arachnid, Relena, Saber, Rezamesu, Bellum, and I. "I'll go look for Claire. Relena, relay the tactic I told you to Arachnid. You're in charge until I get back."

Relena nodded, and I took off towards Claire's last know location: The control booth for the Roller Coaster, which is probably one of the most dangerous places to be in right now.

Not wanting to waste too much energy, I Dequiped my Hunter and ran straight towards where the control booth should be. Granted, I'm in far more danger right now, but it wouldn't do anyone any good if I collapsed from being synchronized for too long.

I can hear the metal of the rollercoaster creaking angrily as the Tidal Najarala slithers across it, acting like it was a roller coaster itself. Huh, note to self, a monster hunter themed amusement park would be nice.

Screws were beginning to fall from the tracks, and it was like a monster chase background music started playing in my head. I had to find Claire, quickly before this whole thing falls down on us. Here's hoping Relena and the other raptors can stop it before that happens.

"CLAIRE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I ran around the area looking for her. I opened the door to the booth and to my relief, there she was, crouching down as if there was an earthquake or something.

She looked at me with a calm smile, although it was pretty obvious that she was holding back tears, "I was scared. I couldn't move…sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," I replied as I picked her up, carrying her like a toddler in my arms. She was surprisingly heavier than she looks, but I was prepared for situations like this. All my life the only reason I ever exercised or lifted weights was so that I won't have any problems carrying kids or babies. Glad to see it finally paid off.

Hearing all the creaking of the metal above us brought me pack to a state of panic, and I hurriedly pressed a button and ran out of the booth and as far as possible from the ride. Just as started running away I heard shots rang out, and I assumed that Bellum and Arachnid had begun firing at the enemy.

If my plan works, we'll be able to take down the Tidal Najarala smoothly.

Well, not really smoothly, since the roller coaster might get fucked up.

* * *

"You okay, Frank?" I heard Ray speak up as I watched the battle unfold before my eyes. I looked at her and noticed that she and Julie had been watching Saber closely from our position. I know those looks, the kind of look I had when I was a powerless audience, waiting for my brother and cousins to survive their hunt.

And yet, here I am, with the power to become a Monster Hunter myself, but I can't. My hands are shaking as I gripped the DS and prepared to sync up with my hunter. But I pussied out and flipped the console close.

"Yeah," I replied, "I just…"

I snapped back to reality as the fighting noises get louder. Arachnid and Bellum were firing continuously at the Tidal Najarala from the ground, probably trying to knock it off the railings. Saber, Rez-something, and Relena were all riding on the rollercoaster, bracing themselves as the ride came to its highest point only meters away from the Tidal Najarala.

"What the?"

Indigo must have done something in the control booth, was this all part of his so-called plan?

The coaster dropped down from the peak and sped terrifyingly fast towards the T-Naja's face. The three hunters jumped up and mounted the enemy all at the same time just as the cars crashed straight at the confused Naja's head.

That was pretty cool I guess, although it must have been sheer luck that the Naja's head happened to be by the tracks were the cars were speeding to. Nevertheless, the crash stunned the enemy, while the cars themselves were sent flying off the tracks.

The cars came down like meteors within the roller coaster's grounds, crushing booths and benches that were thankfully empty. Amidst the car shower emerged Indigo, running with Claire on his arms and a look of ' **Holy Shit!** ' on his face.

He nearly crashed with us as we helped Claire off him, with Ray saying how cool he looked sprinting away from danger while carrying a child.

"Thanks," He replied, panting with his hands on his knees, "I think I almost peed myself."

He looked back up at the three blademasters slashing endlessly at the bird-snake monster. The gunners continued their ranged onslaught, causing the Tidal Naja's scales to start breaking off.

Before we knew it, Indigo had already transformed back to Dirge, and was heading again towards the danger he just ran from. These boys really don't know how to rest huh? If only I wasn't too weak-willed I could help him…

"Whew, we're safe," I heard Claire sigh with relief, "Honestly I almost swore back there."

And just as she said those words, the Tidal Najarala let out a cry of defeat as it fell of the tracks of the roller coaster and its lifeless body slumps on the ground. None of us knew who dished out the finishing blow, but we didn't care.

Although a bit anti-climactic, the threat was over, and the Raptor Brothers emerge victorious once again.

Though they look victorious, they all look like shit. With everyone back to their actual forms, you can clearly see how much being a hunter for too long takes its toll on their bodies. Xavier practically collapsed on Julie as they hugged (it was a platonic hug, they later on justified), Char looked like he joined a triathlon and literally laid down on the ground, Simon looked calm as hell but he was teetering like a drunk person, Indigo was carrying a sleeping Amy on his back, and Charlie went straight to eating whatever left over food he found nearby. The twins were also already asleep at this point, laying down on top of a table we cleaned up

And here I am, the girl who did nothing to help whatsoever. If only my brain wasn't so anxious all the time I'd have been able to at least support them or something. Even the kids were risking everything to fight.

I took a deep breath and looked around me, watching the people walk cautiously along the ruined grounds of the amusement park. People were starting to check the area, others looking for anyone who might need help. Out of concern for our anonymity, I told the others to get ready to leave before people notice us.

"Good point," Simon replied with a nod, "Let's move out, I've already contacted the authorities for any clean up or search and rescue tasks."

Indigo carried Amy again while Claire walked beside him, Char and Ray were carrying Yuri and Yuel respectively, Xavier and Julie were walking hand-in-hand, while I was walking side by side with Charlie and Simon. All of us shambled along quietly back to the bus we rented, we were all tired but I could see that most of them were happy to have survived. I wish I could be as happy as they are.

 _Next time,_ I swore to myself, _I'll help them out next time!_

Oh, if it were only that easy.

* * *

I found myself staring silently outside as we rode our trip back to the headquarters. As the leader of the Raptor Brothers, I'm quite proud that we were able to quell such a challenge with barely any casualties. I mean, sure, the roller coaster got pretty fucked but that was a necessary sacrifice (probably not really).

With most of the kids asleep, I was surprised to see Claire still charged up. She sat right next to me before I could even go to full-on sad music video mode by the window. To be honest, I wanted some alone time to recharge but I couldn't possibly say no to a little girl who wants to chat.

"Were you scared?" She asked out of the blue, honestly catching me off guard. "When you carried me and the cars were falling down on us?"

"The whole time," I replied, "But I'd rather be scared than dead so I ran anyway."

"That was cool."

"I have waited years for someone to tell me that," I smiled at her and she smiled back, making me wonder just how impervious to trauma this girl is. After the school she transferred to got attacked by a Zinogre here she is hanging out with the crowd that will only expose her to more trouble. She was clearly no hunter, but she had the audacity of one, at the very least.

She looked ahead, her hands gripping her knees. At first I thought she had to pee.

"It's a bit embarrassing," She grinned, I can only wonder if she was blushing or not, "But you're my hero. I just wanted to tell you that."

That was…a shock,to be honest. I couldn't help but grin like a narcissistic asshole, and I would be a fool not to say that it was a miracle and a dream come true to hear those words out of a child's mouth. "Of course I am, that's my job."

"Are you…crying?" She asks as leans closer and wipes a tear I didn't notice was streaming down my cheeks. It didn't stop there, and everything else came crumbling down for me afterwards. The pressure, the fear, the fatigue, everything that was keeping my head up all dissipated as I bawled like a bitch at the girl I was supposed to be comforting.

She stood up from her seat and climbed over to mine, and she sat on my lap and held me for the rest of the ride.

* * *

"Your team's not half bad, Char," Simon said to me before he went home, "I'll give you that."

"Thanks," I replied, feeling accomplished that I got through to the captain. My plan to bring him along and show him how close we are to each other worked perfectly. Sure a bunch of monsters came but it just became a proving ground to show how effective we are together. "Does that mean you'll join us?"

Simon stopped walking and took a deep breath. It felt like an hour but it must've been a whole minute only before he replied, "I'll think about it."

I resisted the urge to just celebrate and shout I told you so or whatever, and just thanked him for his help and guidance as he left.

I looked at the other guys getting off the bus as I look at how big our team has become. It had only been a few months but it feels like so much had changed. Things had gotten a hell lot bigger and crazier than I remember. And as they call me for an awkward group photo, I thought…

It's only gonna get crazier from here on out.


	12. Chapter 12: Fear and Loathing

Chapter 12: Fear and Loathing

 _Hey, hey_

 _Wouldn't it be great, great_

 _If we could just lay down_

 _And wake up in Slowtown?_

I zone out for a while, playing a twenty one pilots song in my head as we sat on a bench at a park. I could easily just put some earphones on and blast the song on my phone, but that beats the purpose of hanging out and chilling with my brother and my cousin. Oh, and Charlie's here too, for some reason.

"You look out of it today, Frank," Char mentions as he opens a bag of chips, it was the cheap kind that you can buy from street peddlers, nevertheless they were pretty good. I doubted if they were clean,though. I noticed he had let his hair grow out a bit longer, looking incredibly thick like an anime character's. With his squinty eyes, Char looked like he could be a part of a K-Pop or J-Pop group or something.

"When am I **not** out of it?" I asked, remembering that I still had plenty of homework to take care of.

"You think we can call you Lee instead?" Indigo butted in and motioned a hand toward Charlie, "Having someone named Char and someone named Charlie might cause confusion in the group."

"What kind of demented pickle stuffings are you on, mate?" Charlie replied, I wasn't sure if he was swearing at that point, "You go and recruit me telling me to accept who I am and join your group as my true self, now you're asking me to change my name?"

"I can always just go as Full Frontal or Quatro Bajeena," Char said with a smirk. I have no idea what he's talking about.

"No one has any idea what you're talking about, Char," Indigo said and gestured at us, "He's actually making Mobile Suit Gundam references."

Charlie and I shared a moment of clarity, a very short moment followed by a complete disregard of whatever we were talking about minutes ago. No one mentioned the name thing ever again, I think.

Meanwhile the park itself was peaceful, as peaceful as a local park in our country could get at least. Children were messing around in a nearby playground, couples were making out under the trees, street vendors were walking around selling their wares, and from afar you could hear all the noise from vehicles and the train station, and of course all those people on their phones trying to catch Pokemon(You'd think they'd be more worried about actual monsters lurking around). Peaceful is… an exaggeration I would say.

But we are at peace, I think, and that's what matters. School has gotten me very stressed lately, not to mention the pressure of being part of the Raptor Brothers without actually being able to transform into a hunter and contribute yet. The same can be said for Charlie as his 'final exams' are coming up as well, whatever it is that they do there. Indigo was busy with work, and I quote, 'Has not seen my sweethearts for three days'. Char was, actually pretty chill, due to changes in the curriculum school would not be starting for him for a month or so.

Point being, Indigo thought it was a good idea to hang out and chill like this before any monsters decide to show up and ruin our week again. For some reason, monsters have been rare in our area lately, whether some stroke of luck or perhaps the work of other hunting groups, we were more than happy to catch a break. Except Char, since he needs more 'hunting income' for his plastic model action figures or whatever.

"Got us some _taho_ ," Indigo came with cups of the said food in his hand. It's basically soy milk(sort of) with syrup and tapioca. How he held four cups in two hands I will never understand, nor actually care about, as I sip and enjoy the warm and sweet flavor of the soy. That's good shit.

"How come you didn't invite the others?" Char asked.

"Everyone else are in school, you guys are the only ones with free time," Indigo replied. As he finished talking a group of children in uniformed passed us, which of course, caught my brother's attention. "Huh, are there nearby schools here or something?"

"This place is surrounded with schools and universities," Charlie replied, "Although it looks like those little pumpkins are in a field trip, must be headed to that science museum nearby."

"Aww," I frowned, the word museum got my attention but, "I thought it would be an art or history museum." Being an art major and a history buff, this came as no surprise to everyone except Charlie.

"Oh come on, mate," Charlie said, his accent sounding more british than usual. Come to think of it, are we even actually sure he's actually part british? I can't remember when this was established, but everyone just seems to take it for granted. "Science is pretty cool,too! Ah bet they got things in there that will amaze you! Like mutated giant vegetables or something like that."

"No thanks…mate," I replied, not that I have anything against science or people who say mate, I just simply wasn't in the mood for it. "I'd rather just chill around here doing absolutely nothing right now. Of course, as soon as I remember all the work I had piled up, I'd probably have a panic attack."

All of a sudden, Indigo stood up, stretching and acting like he just had some kind of light bulb above his head.

"I think we should go for it," Indigo said, pointing towards where the children went. "A little field trip of our own should be a good way to spend the day. Get your mind off the stress and all that."

"You just wanna follow those kids, don't you?" Char butted in with a condescending grin.

"And you're just afraid of the entrance fee, aren't you?" Indigo countered, dodging the question, but smiling as if his answer would be yes.

"Touché." Char replied.

"Toupee." Indigo answered, for no apparent reason.

* * *

Everytime I hang out with this family, they seem to get weirder. From a pedophile, to some kind of nervous wreck, and to some absolute cheapskate, these people never fail to make me question my own sanity.

I mean, take that Char bloke for example, he already has enough savings from the hunting jobs we've done but still prefers to take the train than a taxi simply because it costs way less. And trust me, if you've been in our country before, then you probably know that saving money by riding a jam packed train car is always a desperate measure. Or if you live in Japan, then you probably get what I mean, except our trains are fucking slow. Imagine that. And yet he still chooses to ride one instead of a cab, which we totally have the budget for!

Indigo's sister, Frank, is a pretty okay girl. She's the most normal I've seen, but she also understands a lot of pop culture references, as well as otaku-related references, and also seems to have a vast knowledge of internet memes. If she didn't have a tendency to suddenly act like a downer she'd be pretty fun to hang out with all the time. Pretty sure I heard her arguing with Indigo about how she could've enjoyed that Marvel Civil War movie, if they didn't make the story too focused on the 'hot guy with a metal arm'. Watching Indigo turn from a greatly satisfied fanboy to a mellow guy that agrees with his sister, was like some kind of fever dream.

And speaking of Indigo himself, I will never understand how he even became the leader of this group besides being the eldest. The way he acts so proud of his abnormality makes me feel so weird, it was like if Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones was a pedophile instead of a half-man or something like that. I'm pretty sure I saw him flirting with Amy's classmate the other day, like straight up textbook flirting.

While I'm at it, I might as well review my thoughts on the other Raptor Brothers members.

There's Amy, who I'm sure is some immortal witch or vampire stuck inside the body of a child. Not only does she act superior to all of us, she's disturbingly more mature and can honestly keep up with whatever humor Indigo or I would put up, be it witty humor or toilet humor. I don't understand how someone like her could end up mingling with people like us. I have a considerably high regard of myself, but man does she make me feel so inadequate.

Even though he's within the same height as the other kids, Xavier is a teenager, one of the original three Raptor Brothers. Just like the small monsters in every MH game, he boasts a higher fervor and ferocity than the other members and seems to have a high combat experience despite never playing the older MH games besides Freedom Unite and Portable 3rd. This tells me that he's either very skilled or talented, or he has no social life and has wasted all of his time on the game. It's probably both.

Lastly we have the twins, Yuri and Yuel, whose only similarity is the fact that they look alike. Just like their hunter names, they are literally Yin and Yang. How two people can hang out with each other despite being polar opposites is beyond me. That's the power of siblings, I guess. Pretty sure they can read each other's minds too. I remember chilling in the HQ, with Yuri on the sofa next to me and Yuel outside helping Indigo and Char out in spray painting some toy model kits. Then Yuri nonchalantly goes to the cabinet and takes out a bottle of alcohol, and lo and behold a minute later Yuel and Char come in and asking for one so they can thin the paint on the toy. It was pretty surreal but nobody seems to mind.

All things considered, it kinda makes one wonder why the fuck I was even hanging out with this people. Honestly, despite all that I've said about them, I've never felt so accepted and belonged before. That probably goes to show how equally weird I maybe, but still, this must be what a surrogate family feels like. It was like they didn't just befriend me, they adopted me. That was the most fun part of being a Raptor Brother.

"Oy, Charlie lad, what'ye bloody day-dreaming about, you wanker?" Char shouted at me, getting rid of whatever cheesy feelings I had for them a moment ago.

"I hope you hunt better than you imitate my slang and accent, you unripe fuckwad of a mango." I answered.

Everyone laughed at that, and we were all happy-go-lucky as we entered the museum. Char was even happier 'cause they had a promo for the day and all fees were free of charge.

And everything was peaceful. As if monsters didn't inexplicably exist and our day would never get ruined by one.

Huh, I wish.

* * *

"Guys, I just realized," Indigo said as we walked by the different exhibits. We were in the space exhibit and was walking next to a tiny rendition of the moon. "If I play Pokemon Go, I'll finally be able to hang out near playgrounds legally!"

"Assuming they're Pokestops of course," I replied, still happy that we were able to enter for free. The best things in life are free after all. "Wait! That's not the issue at all!"

"Hehe, you're still in trouble if they found out you're not trying to capture Pokemon," Frank grinned, then went back to gazing around at the different spaceships and shit. "Hmm, I wonder if they got Astro Switches here, or maybe a link to the Rabbit Hatch."

"No one has any idea what you're talking about, Frank," Indigo said and gestured at us, "She's actually making Kamen Rider Fourze references."

"Calm down Frank," I elbowed her lightly, "Your inner weeb is showing."

"Wow, guess this group's full of weebs and otakus, innit?" Charlie said with a smile and looked at Indigo, "By the way bruv, I'm surprised you understand a lot of Frank's and Char's references."

Indigo shrugged and grinned, "I try to keep up to date with my siblings' interests. Though I do get swallowed by them as well. I mean, have you seen how many Gunplas and Kamen rider action figures I have at home?" He shivers, as if realizing how much he's fucked his life up.

"No wonder you never seem to have any savings, even with all our hunting jobs." I replied with a smirk, "Then again it's not like we get paid much."

We all nodded and agreed, then went with the gaggle of children going towards the dinosaur exhibit.

Huh, As if we haven't seen enough towering beasts lately.

* * *

I had to punch my brother on the arm to get him to stop humming the Jurassic Park theme song. Then I had to punch Char and Charlie as well since they started humming too. Indigo was right though, the names Char and Charlie are a bit confusing and would make for a good tongue twister. Maybe I should change my name to Charlotte while we're at it.

Meanwhile the three dumb boys gawked at every skeletal model, every diorama, of every stereotypical dinosaur you can think of. You got a brontosaurus wax figure, which was NOT life sized but was at the height of a regular adult, and Indigo was calling it 'Little Foot'. There's picture galleries of different herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs, and we had to stop Char from fighting a kid because the kid called a 'triceratops' a 'rhinoceros'. Charlie, on the other hand, kept insisting that these things are fake because they lack feathers, which of course almost started an argument with both some other adult and another kid.

"Guys, are you trying to get us kicked out?" I asked them after taking them aside. "You're the ones that insisted on this tour, stop going full aggro-nerd and let's just have fun."

Indigo put a hand on my shoulder and smiled, "Good to know you're having fun."

"Well, technically I'm just _trying_ to have fun." I replied. It's not that I don't appreciate any of this, I just find it harder to enjoy life when you've got tons of work to worry about when you get home. I'm not like my brother who always has a strategy that allows him to chill and play around while not having work pile up all over him.

Come on Frank, relax, just try and chill. I close my eyes for a second and breathe slowly. I'll have no problem doing all my homework and projects when we get home, right? It's not that much I guess. I'll be able to hunt alongside my brothers and friends eventually, right? I mean it can't be that hard to transform into a hunter you've been playing as for months and risk your life. There's nothing difficult about fighting monsters where a single misstep can get you killed…right?

Ah, goddamnit.

"We should probably head back now," I tell the three idiots in front of me, "The next exhibits are more inclined towards children anyway. It's just some sciency playground."

Indigo looked at me and my face must have been turning sour, cause he nodded as if he understood.

"Alright," He said without saying much else, "You wanna get some ice cream on the way home?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Us too," Char and Charlie butted in. "You can never go wrong with some ice cream."

That's true, but there's just something about that type of desert that always calms me down. My brother may be a complete idiot and a borderline psychopath, but at least he knows how to cheer me up every once in a while.

We were about to exit the exhibit when we hear a child scream. Not scared or dying scream, more like excited and regular child scream.

"WOOOOOOOW!" The rambunctious kid pointed up. We all looked to at the ceiling and saw what looked like a large dinosaur skull dangling around. "It's a rhinoceros skeleton!"

"TRICERATOPS!" Char shouted at him, "And that's a skull!"

The kid gave him the finger, something that amused Indigo, but my brother looked more worriedly at the skull.

"I don't think that's a triceratops skull," He said while stroking his chin like some detective, "Doesn't that look more like a Gravios to you?"

We all squinted, trying to get a clearer and more detailed look at the dangling skull. Meanwhile, I tried to think what a Gravios is. Was that a monster hunter reference or another video game or anime reference? Wait, I think I remember fighting a Gravios in MH4U, or was it a Diablos?

"Well," Charlie answered, "That **does** kinda look like a Gravios skull. But what's it doing there?"

"Maybe they found a dead Gravios that's been slain and took its skull for display?" I contributed to the topic.

"Feels like they'd waste too much effort trying to do that." Char replied.

Meanwhile Indigo looked deep in thought, staring at the dangling Gravios skull while stroking his chin. All of a sudden he stopped and tensed, and without warning he ran towards the children.

"Dude, what the fuck?!" I shouted, worried that my brother finally snapped and was going full pedo on us.

"Ma'am," He said as he got to the kids and the tour guide, and pointed at the Gravios skull, "Is that part of the exhibit?!"

"Um, I wasn't told about this," was all the lady could reply.

"Then you need to get the children out," Indigo talked like he was some police authority or something. It honestly scared me, "It's dangerous to be here, please get the children out."

"But-"

"GET THEM OUT!"

The tour guide looked frightened and shaken, but seemed to believe him. She started ushering the kids who, of course, were bummed that they had to leave so quickly.

They were just beginning to make their way out from when the walls started trembling and a noisy rumbling began echoing around the large room.

"SHIT!" Indigo said as he ran to us. "There's only one reason for a skull like that to be on a ceiling!"

"Huh?" I replied, but the two behind seemed to get it.

"When a skull is stuck on a ceiling or wall like that," He continued, "There's usually a Shogun Ceanataur inside."

As if waiting for some dramatic moment, the skull started moving just as the words left Indigo's mouth. Specks of blue skin(?) moved out from underneath and inside it as the creature awakens. Bony legs appear and extend as the Shogun Ceanataur springs out and jumps off the ceiling.

Everyone looked to the ground as the monster's shadow grows bigger as it falls closer. In a split-second of clarity, all of us must've realized that the Shogun was falling down **on us** and we all spread out in a running panic.

Without looking back we ran as far away from the looming shadow. The ground shook and I tried my best to stay balanced through the tremor. My heart was beating faster than what I consider as healthily necessary, but I tried my best to calm down and take a look around.

All three of the guys I'm with had already donned their hunter avatar form, making me assume that they never ran from the falling monster a while ago. Dirge(Indigo) was near the children, telling the tourguide and teacher where to go and what to do to stay safe, while at the same time playing songs on his Hunting Horn and buffing up the other two. Relena(Char) and Rezamesu(Charlie) was keeping the monster busy, making sure that it focuses attacks on him and away from the civilians.

"You know Relena," Rez said as he deflects the right claw, while Relena shields herself from the other one. "I just realized our hunter names both start with RE, while our real names both have CHAR in them. How positively odd, don'tcha think?"

"Both of my names were inspired by characters from the Mobile Suit Gundam animes," Relena replied, rolling under a claw swipe and countering with slashing combos to charge up her phials. "At least I have a theme of sorts."

While they were bickering, Dirge was helping the children and the adults with them look for an exit. A large dinosaur skeleton along with some display cabinets had fallen over and blocked the main door, correction, the only door. There were windows around that were large enough, and by some miracle their glass didn't shatter, but the tour guide was too worried about getting fired to allow them to break it.

"Ma'am, this is an emergency," Dirge said sounding real pissed (he tries to sound like Batman when he's angry, lowering and increasing the bass in his voice). "Would you really get fired for saving people's lives?"

The tour guide, and the teacher, looked very conflicted and probably in a bigger state of panic than the kids. The kids were more than happy to be able to watch a monster fight this close.

"Ah, dammit!" My brother groaned as he left the worthless adults he was bickering with and went back in the fight with the other two hunters. "We need to finish this up quickly and efficiently, there are way too many people at risk."

"How?" Relena replied, "It may just be a Shogun Ceanataur but goddamn its durable. It probably knows that it can't dig around and there's too much obstacles around it to move. It's been spamming its claws at us!"

"Alright, let's try this," Dirge continued as he fights alongside Relena and Rezamesu, "You two each block or deflect a claw while I get all horny all over his face."

"Huh?" Rez replied.

"Get used to it," Relena answered him, "He means we keep both claws busy while he spams hunting horn attacks on the enemy's face. If we're lucky, it will get stunned and should help us kill it faster."

"Ryokai!"

"Alright then, let's not fuck this up!" Rez and Relena answered. On some instinctive signal, they both rushed the enemy. Rez slammed his knife looking greatsword down on the left claw, pinning it to the ground. Relena morphed her charge blade into axe mode and did the same. Meanwhile, here I was, doing absolutely nothing and cowering far from the fight.

Involuntarily I felt my hand grab something from inside my bag. It was the 3DS that Oscar Chase gave me.

Can I really do it? I've played the game enough, and seen my brothers in action. All I had to do was focus, and my hunter and I will be one.

But that's the problem, isn't it? I become one with the hunter, her pain becomes mine, her flaws and my flaws merged into one. I can't just opt out and let the hunter do all the dirty work. It's still all me.

Will it even work? Who am I kidding, chances are it will. I mean the twins did it, but then again they had more experience than I did. Dammit, my brother's charging at a gigantic crab and here I am arguing with myself without actually doing anything else.

"How'd you even get in here?" Dirge asked as he charged at the shogun, his hunting horn ready to smash the enemy to pieces. He had a grin on his face as he ran, it was like the equivalent of a cat shaking its butt before pouncing.

But as he got closer he suddenly stopped, saying a barely audible "Ah, shit". I wondered what the matter was until I saw the Shogun Ceanataur foaming at the mouth. A split second afterwards a strong torrent of water burst out of its mouth and sent Dirge flying. My brother landed with a painful thud on 'Little Foot', causing it to fall over. Poor thing.

"Konoyaro!" Rez growled and went for a counter attack to avenge Dirge. He kicked the enemy's claw away and went straight for the head. With its other claw unbound, the Shogun Ceanataur found an opportunity and drove its claw toward Rezamesu. With Rez wide open, he has no choice but to press on his attack and hope that the claw doesn't hit him before he can hit the Shogun's head.

But Rez didn't get hit, Relena had shoved his Charge blade on the shield and used a phial's burst to launch his shield like a charged boomerang. The shield made it in time to deflect and damage the claw before it could hit Rez, while Rez slammed his knife-looking Greatsword on the monster's face with what looked like a level 2 charge attack, causing it to flinch. Rez gave Relena a thumbs up and smiled, " _s_ ankyu!"

"No prob," Relena answered, "As one of our tanks, keeping my teammates safe is top priority."

"That was close," Dirge said as he stood up, "But let's face it, we can't go all out as long as we have civilians trapped here with us."

"Yeah," Relena nodded, "Any attack the Ceanataur makes could endanger them, so we can't focus on killing the monster willy-nilly."

Dirge started looking around intently, and in less than five seconds he nodded as if he thought of a plan. He pointed at Rezamesu, "Think you can cut those dino bones to pieces? Or even burn them to ash? They're honestly the only reason the door's blocked."

"I dunno about burning 'em, but I reckon I could mince 'em well enough to unblock the exit." Rez answered, but looked my brother worryingly, "You guys sure you can keep it busy without me?"

"Don't underestimate me and Dirge," Relena grinned, "We've fought together more often than the other Raptors, our synergy is unquestionable!"

Dirge carried his hunting horn by his shoulder, "We'll keep it busy as best we can, and when you finish we'll slay it relentlessly."

"Wakatta," Rez replied and headed towards the rubble blocking the door.

None of them would admit it, but I know what they're thinking. If I just transformed, they wouldn't be too overpowered. My weapon style is that of a gunner (since a mage isn't available in MH), so I really shouldn't worry about being on the frontlines. And yet…

I opened my 3DS with trembling hands, it's so simple, even the twins could do it. How do they make it look so easy?!

"Hey!" I heard Dirge call out. "You don't have to push yourself."

Look at you, worrying about me while going toe-to-toe with a giant hermit crab. As my brother, shouldn't you be pressuring me to help you? As our leader, shouldn't you force me to contribute to the team?

"I want to help!" I shouted, wincing as I watch my brother barely block an attack, his arms shaking from the force of the blow, his feet trying their best to stay stable.

"Stop being crabby, Shogun!" He shouted as if he wasn't even injured, "Just let me kill you!"

How?! How do you just joke around when any wrong move could get you killed?!

Relena sidestepped and blocked another attack from hitting my brother.

"I'll take care of this for now," She says, "If you need to give her some kind of peptalk, do it and do it fast!"

Dirge nodded, played what I assume was another HH buff-song, and sheathed his weapon as he ran to me.

"Hey."

"Are you hurt?" I asked, "What the hell,dude?! For a leader you sure seem to have your ass kicked more often than the others. Aren't you afraid to die or something?"

"Afraid?" He chuckles, "Franky, I am so scared right now I thought I'd shit my pants. My whole body is aching, begging me to stop fighting and just run away and rest."

"Then how-"

"In my opinion, being scared is good. It keeps you in check, lets you know your limit." He pats my back, I wince from the rough feel of his Brute Tigrex armor. "Sorry. Anyways, I think embracing fear is the first step to being brave."

"But a lot of things could go wrong, it's not like I'm capable enough to do anything about it."

"Let me tell you right now, a lot of things WILL go wrong, a lot of things already have. Maybe you do something about it, maybe you don't. You can either run away from it, or you can stand your ground and say 'Fuck you God! You'll have to do better than that!'"

That part made me laugh, despite the deep shit we were in. Must be nice, to be able to easily tempt fate like that.

"What happened to you?" I asked with a smile, "Not so long ago, when we were younger you used to snap so easily. Always throwing tantrums and hurting yourself everytime something goes wrong."

"This may sound cliché, but I found something worth standing up for. A motivation to improve myself."

"Let me guess-"

"Kids, I know. Call me full of shit but that's just how I feel."

He shrugged and so did I.

"Um guys," Relena butted in, and we looked to see her pinned down on the ground by the Ceanataur's claws. "I said little pep talk, not a lifetime's worth of heart-to-heart!"

The Shogun raised its claws and slammed them down, rendering anything in its path to pieces. Thankfully, Relena rolled away just in time and was not in its path.

"Holy shit!" She shouted with bated breath, "Did you guys see that!"

"Nice dodge, keep it up and buy me some more time!" Dirge said approvingly.

"Fuck you! Hurry up!"

Dirge faced me again, his helmet covering his face but I could feel he was grinning, "See that? I bet she was scared as hell the whole time. But instead of stopping her, she used fear to fuel herself. That's kind of how adrenaline works, though, right?"

He started walking towards the monster again, readying his Hunting Horn for another round. "Sorry If I couldn't have good enough words of wisdom to impart. If it helps, I usually play a song in my head to calm me down. Trust me though, nothing feels better than being able to stand up to fear and anxiety. Just remember, they're your fears, your paranoia, not the other way around."

I didn't quite get it, but I sort of did, I guess…

"OWN THEM!" Dirge shouts as he ran straight the monster, using his Hunting Horn's bursts of sonic-shock waves to propel him faster, like some kind of giant semi-automatic thruster.

To be honest that wasn't very helpful, but I guess he has a point. So I guess the first step would be to accept the fact that you're afraid? Is that it? Then the end goal would be to use them to your advantage, I guess.

I stare at my character in the 3DS, her Hyperion bow looking slim and simple equipped on her back. It's shade of blue and sleek design made me want it, despite being less viable than other bows. And hey, it blends well with my hunter's Lagiacrus Armor. All in all, my hunter looked like a blue and orange colored knight-ranger cross breed. Not very fitting of the name Artemis, but I'll take what I can get.

I take a deep breath as I stare at my character. This is it, am I really prepared for this?

No I'm not… and that should be okay. Now let's see, my brother said to play a song in my head…

How about Migraine by Twenty One Pilots? It's angsty enough and is kind of about anxiety and having to deal with an unstable mind. That'll do I guess.

 _Am I the only one I know,_

 _Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat?_

Here we go, focus on your hunter, feel the bond you've developed from all those hours of gaming. Allow your souls to become one.

 _Shadows will scream that I'm alone_

My heart won't slow down, beating faster than I've ever felt it before. My hands were getting sweaty, my eyes felt blinded by the light coming from my DS screen. It was like being in a completely different body, and yet… I've never felt so comfortable.

 _But I know we've made it this far,_

 _Kid_

* * *

It's not everyday you get to hear an arrow whizz past your ear, and then after that you realize that your sister finally achieved what she wanted to do since day one and you just can't help but smile. Huh, looks like my words of wisdom finally did her some good.

I watched as three sparkling hits flash up from one arrow hit, must have been a piercing shot. I look back and see her grinning in that blue and orange Lagiacrus armor set, her bow resembling the Azure Rathalos with its dark and shiny blue scales.

"HOLY SHIIIIT!" Her Hunter screamed in surprise, eyes wide open like a miracle just happened. "I hit it on the face! The face!" Her hunter started jumping like a giddy little kid, looking very un-hunter-y. "I wasn't even aiming that well, damn!"

"Alright, keep it up!" I say with a tone of endearment. "Um, What's your hunter name by the way?"

"Artemis," She replied, nocking back another arrow.

"Ok, Artemis," I answer, thinking up a strategy on the fly. "Just hang back and support us from afar. Focus on dealing critical damage on the head, that might stagger it often enough to buy us more time. Relena and I will focus on preventing it from making any big attacks until Rezamesu can get the children out. Once the area is clear of civilians, only then can we go all out."

"Cool," Artemis replied, "Deal critical damage on a weak point that requires good aim to hit. No pressure here."

"You can do it," Relena said with a thumbs up, all while blocking and dodging attacks from the Shogun, "Don't forget to say 'Ryuu ga waga teki wo kurau' when shooting an arrow."

"What?" Artemis asked, almost losing her focus.

"Ignore her," I say as I get back in the fight. "We may have been playing too much Overwatch lately."

All manner of joking aside, we all resumed fighting again. It's a surprise that the Shogun Ceanataur didn't get pissed off that we were ignoring him a while ago while Relena just nonchalantly held it off.

Artemis fired another piercing arrow at its head, but only managed to hit the skull-shell on its back. She cursed under her breath and I reminded her to calm down and not to be hasty with her shots. I took a mental note of having Amy and/or Simon help her get used to shooting and generally being a real life gunner-type hunter.

Meanwhile, Relena and I kept the monster at bay. Small but staggering attacks were our goal, and we had to deflect if not cancel each and every attack the enemy makes. Minimizing the damage was top priority, while slowly whittling down the monster's health pool.

Rezamesu was still chipping away at the debris, the spacings he made are not yet enough even for a child to fit through. Who knew that we'd end up wasting more time and effort than necessary against a Shogun Ceanataur?

But then again, in real life even the simplest monsters can be a challenge.

The Shogun readied its claws again, this time looking like it's about to do its signature spinning slash attack, or whatever it's called. It's a pretty wide and quite destructive, so I told Artemis to spam any paralyze-coated arrows if she had any, as well as for Relena and I to pin down its claws.

"I think I can use any coating, hold on," Artemis said, noting something about her possible personal skill. "Cool, call me Hawkeye or Green Arrow or whatever 'cause I got a bag full of trick arrows. Paralysis arrows incoming!"

"Nice!"Relena shouted as she used the axe form of her Charge-Blade to pin down a claw while I pressed my whole weight on my hunting horn to pin down the other claw. A flurry of hits flashed on the enemy's face, and tiny little sparks started surrounding its body. Its body went limp and suddenly started shivering as if it was on the verge of having to take a shit but needed to hold it in.

"What are you snickering at?" Artemis asked as we started attacking relentlessly.

"Sorry," I replied, "I just thought of a _shitty_ analogy. Pay it no mind."

While we were busy but cautiously destroying the Shogun Ceanataur, we heard the rumble of cement and other solid things and noticed that Rez had cleared a decent amount of rubble. The adult civilians were carefully but hurriedly guiding the children through the exit. In a few minutes, they'll be out of the room and into a presumably safer environment, whereas we can finally go all out against our enemy.

"Everyone back off and heal if you need to," I ordered, selecting a Mega Potion and Nulberry to take off the waterblight from getting hit with a water blast attack earlier. I realized that a lifepowder would have been a better option, but I forgot to bring some like the idiot that I am.

"Wow," I heard Artemis say, "The game doesn't allow me to equip all coatings, but now I can! How about that."

"Could be your special personal skill," Relena noted as she finished sharpening her charge blade. The Shogun was almost shrugging off the paralysis, and our respite was about to get cut short. "Either way, looks like break time's over."

"IT'S OK, FOR I AM HERE!" Rezamesu shouted, and since we were all in comms, making us all cringe from the loud piercing noise in our ears. We all swore at him before grouping together and posing as if we were superheroes about to fight a big bad villain.

I stood straight, a basic stance with my hunting horn planted on the floor, as if I was a knight standing with his blade pointed down. Relena readied both sword and shield of her charge blade, prepared to take a blow and counterattack. Artemis took a knee and readied her bow, taking aim at the enemy. Rezamesu stood with an arm at his waist and the other holding his greatsword over his shoulder.

"Why are we doing this?" Artemis asked.

"To look cool," I answered.

"But there's no one else around except the monster," Relena said.

"Well, maybe he's intimidated, yeah?" Rez answered.

We never got to continue debating, as the Shogun started crawling toward us with claws at the ready.

"Let's finish this quickly," I said with a grin, "Raptors, deploy!"

"That's lame," Artemis said as she fired a weird looking arrow on the ground, "But this isn't."

Wait what the hell is that? The arrow she fired planted itself on the ground and started transforming to what looked like some kind of small, pulsating device. Kind of like…

"Is that a shock trap?!" Relena shouted as she took a step back and waited for the Shogun to walk closer. True enough, as soon as the monster got within the arrow's radius, it started getting stunned and stopped moving as bolts of electricity kept it trapped.

"How-"

"Hunt now, questions later!" I cut Rez off as we ran at the enemy with reckless abandon.

We all attacked like a bunch of anime characters who finally got whatever power up they needed. Artemis fired power shot after power shot, somehow hitting more often than missing. Relena crushed the Shogun's claws with her signature 'Mjolnir Smash'. And as I buffed all of their stats up with my special HH song, Rez used his move called 'Zuwanagi Nabe' to cut the monster to pieces with quick steaming slashes from his giant knife.

With all the limbs cut off, all it took was a swift blow to the head with my Hunting Horn to end the fight. Before we knew it, the Shogun Ceanataur was reduced to a gory mess.

"That was a little anti-climactic," Relena said as she sheathed her weapon. "Oh well, at least everyone's safe and everything's fine."

"Whaddya mean everything's fine?" Rez asked, gesturing around us, showing that the room was full of blood and gore from the monster we cut up. The displays were either fallen down or ruined altogether from the chaos. "This looks like a big, literally bloody mess. And probly an expensive one too."

"We're not getting paid for this aren't we?" Artemis asked as we made our way toward the exit. "What do you say, leader? What do we do next?"

"To put simply," I reply as I broke to a sprint, "We run!"

* * *

How we managed to escape without being seen was beyond me. There was a fire exit that was unlocked and somehow we just snuck out without the police (who only just arrived) seeing us. We didn't bother talking to the police since Simon wasn't with them and we feared that they might arrest us for damaging property. Who knows, maybe they would understand that it wasn't exactly our fault, but we didn't want to take that risk.

"Good job everyone," Indigo spoke up as we rested in the park we were at this morning. My brother had already bought some street-vendor's ice cream and we were having a small party to celebrate my first successful hunt as Artemis.

"My god, my hands are still shaking," I say with a smile as I show them my hands. They are shaking. "That was fucking terrifying and awesome at the same time."

"We should review your skills at the next group meeting," Indigo nodded at me, and then at Charlie, "You too, we haven't checked your skills yet."

"Aye," Charlie replied, "But they ain't no big deal, mate."

"How are you talking in so many accents at the same time?" Indigo asked, but before we could continue his phone rang. "Claire! Holy shit you actually called me."

We all looked at him with questionable intent.

"What was-wait, seriously?" Indigo looked worried then smiled again, "Cool, sorry we couldn't come. We were busy as well. Alright, I'm just glad you guys are safe. Tell Amy to schedule a meeting as soon as possible. Nice, thanks, love you bye."

Char raised an eyebrow, and so did I (runs in the family I guess), "Was that last part necessary?"

Indigo shrugged, "Looks like they were busy with a monster when we were. Amy said they may have found a new potential recruit."

"Awesome, who is it?" I asked.

"Claire didn't say," Indigo replied with a grin, "But if Amy thinks they're worthy… Oh well, guess we'll just have to wait and hear her side of the story."

And with just that, we went home more enthusiastic than usual. Felt like it was just yesterday where there just three morons fighting monsters as a group/brotherhood called Raptor Brothers. The name might sound a bit lame, but I'm frankly happy to watch it grow big like this, especially now that I'm truly a part of it.

I don't know if the rumors about a hunting tournament actually turn out to be true, but if it does and we end up in some competition for Hunters, I'm confident that we'll face it together, as a team.

Or even better, as a family.


	13. Chapter 13: After School Special

**Chapter 13: After School Special**

The morning starts as usual, bright and warm and lively. I wake up, wash my face, put a shirt on, and walk downstairs toward the dining room. The smell of pancakes linger around the house like an aroma trail leading me towards my food. Grandma's pancakes are the best, with the right amount of fluff and a good blend of syrup and butter to top it off.

"G'Mornin, Gramama!" I shouted with glee as I plopped myself by the table, excited for another beautiful day at school.

"Lively as usual, Claire," Grandma replied with a smile, she always did like it when I call her Gramama. She says it sounds cute. She sets a plate for each of us, and separates a pancake for my dad. After placing it by his urn, I help her light the candle next to his photo.

"G'Mornin, Dad," I waved at his photo and muttered a quick prayer, "Please look after me and Gramama today as well."

As the two of us ate, I told Grandma about my dream last night, well, parts that I remember at least. She told me about how nice my dream was, and how she rarely dreams lately. Her brain's too tired to dream, she says.

"By the way, muffin, how's school?" She asks as she washes the plate and I ready my clothes for the day. "Have you been making friends?"

"Yeah!" I replied, "Although, I only have one close friend in school, but her friends are my friends!"

"How about your other classmates? You've already told me about this Amy girl and her older friends, you need more friends your age, and in your class too."

I shrugged, "The girls in class are nice to me for the most part, but I don't feel close enough with them to call them friends you know? Well, I guess we're friendly, but we're not 'friends' per se."

She nodded and agreed with me, saying that I shouldn't rush things since I was just new to this school. Things may be different here than where we used to live in Toronto, so I should take my time to adjust.

Keeping her thoughts in my mind, I continued with the morning routine with enthusiasm for another day at school. What new things will I learn today? What kind of crazy exciting stuff will happen?

Oh I can't wait!

* * *

 _Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh_

I'm really not in the mood for school today. I drag my feet as I make my way to the classroom and see that, as usual, Claire's already here. My (self-appointed)bestfriend leaps to her feet with a bounce and waves at me.

"G'Mornin', Amy!" She announces with such liveliness that I thought I'd be blinded with how bright she was metaphorically shining.

"First of all, fuck you," I replied, well-knowing that she was used to me swearing, as long as there were no teachers around. "The morning's dull, boring, and it looks like it would rain. How can you be so chipper when all our classes are just…regurgitated garbage?"

Claire tilts her head like a confused puppy, "A what?"

"A waste of time is what I'm saying," I sigh and put my bag down, the problem with knowing more than you should is that a lot of things become uninteresting. I'm sure Claire can get excited with even the simplest of lessons, I bet learning about something as simple as Algebra would be crazy enough for her. I don't have that luxury, I'm not… well I'd say dumb but Claire's not exactly dumb. Whatever, I really don't get why she keeps sticking with me, I'd just bring her down all the time. "You may be happy in that surreal world of yours, but unfortunately I'm stuck in reality."

"Oh, come now, Amy," She replied, fanning her hand as if she just waved away my negativity, "You can't be a Debbie downer all the time, there's got to be something that makes you happy."

"Videogames, and murdering dangerous monsters," I replied without hesitation, "And horror flicks, I guess."

And before I knew it, I was trapped in a conversation with her. We talked about the horror movies that we watch and which ones were our favorite, I told her that my favorite was A Serbian Film but I also told her that she's better off not watching it. The topics then veered towards other stuff, like hobbies and the usual small talk bullshit. I humored her and wasted my time, I mean it's not like I have anything better to do right now.

I honestly don't know why she chose to get friendly with me, I can be an asshole to her at times and there's far better girls she can hang out with in class. But hey, I'll take what I can get, having a 'friend' that's easy to manipulate should prove useful in the long run.

"So in summary, I think 'Full Disclosure' is the best song in Steven Universe, with 'It's Over, Isn't It?' at second place" Claire finished, and I only noticed that I had tuned her out, so I just nodded.

"I don't really watch cartoons lately, sorry." I shrugged, and she nodded as if she understood.

I was pretty sure that it was 7:30am when I arrived at class, but for some reason it was already 8:15. Was Claire able to waste my time that much? How did that happen?

Before we knew it Ms. Irene came in the class, and looked at us with a mixture of surprise and understanding.

"Oh, early as usual you two." She smiled and looked at her watch, "The rest of the class should be here within 5 to 10 minutes."

 _Sigh._ Alright, let's get this over with. I can only hope that something exciting or at least not too boring would be waiting for me after school.

* * *

"Whatcha doin', Xavier?" A voice behind me asks, nearly giving me a heart attack. I was secretly checking my iPad in class, hoping for a new hunting request or mission or whatever. For a second I thought a teacher had magically spawned right behind me.

I turn around and breathe a sigh of relief to see that it was Julie.

"Don't scare me like that," I tell her, explaining that I was getting antsy and needed to hunt. It's been a while since we had a good fight with any monsters, as lately the only requests we were getting were for small monsters and I think someone even wanted to hire us for a birthday party. Sure, Indigo was okay with that but everyone else stopped him since that wasn't what we're about.

"How can you enjoy doing something so dangerous?" She asks as she sits on the empty chair next to me. "I've seen the monsters in the news, some of them so big they can destroy cities. Thank God you haven't had to face any of them huh."

"Well, as much as I would love the challenge of an Elder Dragon," I reply, acting as confident as possible. It's not every day your crush takes interest in your…well, interests (and to a point, your job). "They may be too dangerous for us right now."

Suddenly I felt a vibration in my hand, and saw a notification for the Raptor Bros. blog. Without wasting a second I had opened and read the request letter.

"Something causing a disturbance in our construction site…" Julie read aloud, leaning closer to look at my iPad. I could smell her perfume with her face so close to mine, but I couldn't afford a distraction. I needed to schedule this request with the other members and get it done as soon as possible. "Rockslides and explosions?"

Hmm, they did mention that, but no visual on the actual monster? If explosions are involved it could be a Brachydios. Damn, I hate fighting that guy. I had apparently said that aloud and Julie was now curios about what I'm talking about.

"It's a brute wyvern type of monster, like a blue dinosaur with rock-hard boxing gloves for hands. Oh yeah, and everything it's spit touches explodes."

"What kind of sadistic person's creation is that?"

"He's not even the hardest you'll be fighting if you play the game. So no need to worry about me."

Except she should be worried about me, hell I'm worried about me. In game a Brachydios is nothing, but in real life where even a Najarala can prove troublesome, I'll need to be careful.

"I'll contact my cousins and the other raptors, see if we can all kick this guy's ass." I said, opening group chat and linking the request with a 'Who's game?' caption.

Only a few people have 'Seen' my message: Yuri,Yuel, and Amy. I don't know what Indigo and Char are doing, or what Frank and Charlie are up to, but it does bother me how the twins saw my message since they should be in school too. Guess being obsessed with gadgets runs in the blood.

[Yuri: What is it?]

[Xavier: probly brachydios]

[Yuel: *0*]

[Amy: what does that emote even mean]

[Amy: eitherway count me in]

[Yuel: ^3^]

[Yuri: That's funny, how do you do that?]

[Xavier: are you guys in or not]

[Yuri: Ok.]

[Yuel: ;) ]

[Xavier: so is that a yes]

[Yuri: Yes]

[Yuel: YES]

[Amy: just tell me when and where to get you ill send my driver]

"Your cousins are adorable," Julie mentions, apparently having read the whole conversation. "But are you sure you wanna do this? If I remember right, all those who said yes are just kids. If you go on this mission, you'll be the oldest, you'll be in charge."

Oh god.

* * *

With Yuri and Yuel only in class until 12 noon, and Xavier having a school event that allows him to leave as early as 12 as well, we all agreed that I'll have them picked up after lunch then we'll go to this construction site. Problem is, my class is up to 3.

I'll have to sneak out somehow.

"You look like you're scheming something Amy," Claire butted in, "Can I help?"

"You can help by leaving me alone, this one's too troublesome even for you."

"Aww, I want to help."

"I'm sneaking out moron," I tell her in a very annoyed whisper, "You're too morally biased for that."

She looked genuinely displeased with my comment, "Are you calling me a goody-two-shoes? I can be a rule breaker too you know."

There's just no shaking this girl. Why does she even cling to me of all people? Is it because I'm rich?

"Why would you go out of your way to sneak out with me?" I asked, "You're not even going to hunt."

"Because you're my friend," She replies, with bright smile and arms akimbo, she really looked like droplet of pure sunlight.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." I sigh, knowing that I can't get rid of her, "Fine, you can come. But if we get caught I'll tell them it was your idea."

"We won't get caught, I promise."

* * *

Lunch break.

I look at the clock on my desk. It was a tiny digital desktop clock standing next to a bunch documents that I had planned on working at. Right next to it more piles of papers stood like an intimidating tower. I thought to myself, calculated rather, that if I finish my lunch now I can use the remaining 30 minutes to get a head start on grading my students' papers. Granted, lunch break was made for eating and resting, but I had nothing better to do. It wasn't as if I could just take out my 3DS and sneak in a little gaming, that might be considered unbecoming of a teacher.

For all intents and purposes, I need to keep my gaming life a secret. In school, I'm just a teacher, nothing more nothing less.

But I'll be honest, my motivation to do any actual work was at around 15%. I didn't want to do any work yet, but I don't want to waste my time either.

"So how're your students, Ms. Irene?" A co-teacher sitting next to me asks. Like me he also brought packed lunch and ate at his desk. "Kids get rambunctious during this time of the year."

This time of the year? Does he mean to say that kids only get rambunctious during this specific quarter, because of the holidays like Halloween and Christmas?

I decided not to think much about and nodded, "Well, kids will be kids. It's not easy having movie and tv show stereotypes in the class though. I've got an Asian genius, a queen bee bully, and a transfer student who's too kind and cheerful for her own good."

"Wow, sounds like you have it rough."

Not really, I thought. I'm sure there are far more painful classes to handle out there. Sure, the kids are crazy and precocious, but a lot of them are surprisingly independent and responsible enough for their age. God have mercy for the ones teaching kindergarten and nursery students.

I nodded at him again, wanting to humor him to keep myself busy. But truth be told, I wasn't in the mood for socializing either, and I only wanted to keep talking since he seemed like he had no one else to hang out with. But I couldn't afford to keep this up.

"I'm sorry, I'd like to walk around a bit," I told him, taking my bag and standing up. "Let's talk again tomorrow instead."

"Ok," he replied, not looking hurt but looking slightly disappointed. But that's not my problem. I walked out of the faculty office and decided to take a stroll around. I've been in this school for more than a year now, maybe I should actually get to know it more instead of just staying in the classroom and faculty room during my free time.

Approximately 25 minutes left of free time, I wondered where to go to waste it. I'm not used to this, just lounging around with no actual purpose or goal or task. Hmm, all the more reason to get some R&R I guess.

I was walking nearby the school's garden when something caught my eye. I think I saw two students sneak behind the greenhouse. There was no one else around at this time of the day, only the flowers and other plants enjoying the breeze. I couldn't possibly mistake something else for a human being.

I followed where I thought I saw them, going to the back of the small greenhouse. This area of the school was technically it's backyard, with a tall cement wall blocking off the school grounds from the outside world.

Looking around the back of the greenhouse, I saw a ladder propped up by the wall. Somebody could use this to climb up, and over, the wall. If I really did see two students a while ago, chances are they're already on the other side of the wall. This was the first time I've thought of the possibility of any of the students playing truant, so obviously I had to know who they were.

I climbed the ladder, thanking myself for not wearing high heels today, and peered over the other side.

"Hey!" I shouted at the two students I saw.

* * *

"Oh shit!" I grunted as I turn around to see our teacher looking at us. We've been seen, and now we have no choice but to "Run!"

"Hi Ms. Irene!" Claire said as she waved at her, making me consider just leaving her there to get caught. I thought otherwise and took her hand and dragged her running with me. She looked back and shouted, "Bye Ms. Irene!"

I called my driver and told him to meet us by the playground. I secretly hoped that he had transporting skills like Jason Statham so we could beat our teacher in case a car chase happens.

"Get back here!" Ms. Irene shouted as she climbed over the wall and started chasing after us. I can only hope that she didn't see our face, or my reputation of being a good, smart girl will be ruined. "Amy! Claire! Get back here!"

Shit.

"We've got business to attend to Ms. Irene!" Claire answered as we ran, "Don't worry about us, go back to class!"

"Like hell I am!"

We have to lose her, I thought, and considered plans on which path to take. We could go through the playground, some of the play areas there should be crowded, but our uniforms would stand out. I told Claire about that option and asked her for ideas.

"You're right, our uniforms would stand out, we need to take them off," She replied.

"And wear what?!" I answered, shaking my head, "Two kids running around in their underwear would stand out just as much. Besides, I doubt you're even wearing any today, what're you gonna do run around naked?"

"If that's what it takes," She giggled. What an idiot.

She's still hot on our heels, and we had no disguises or any way to lose her. Dammit, I didn't think this through.

"Alright," Claire nodded and grinned, "I've got a plan."

"Please don't tell me you're actually gonna take your clothes off," I reply with a sigh.

"Nah," She said, pulling her hand out of my grasp, "You go ahead, I wasn't supposed to go with you anyway, right?"

Wait, could she be thinking of staying behind?

Apparently, yes. Before I could say anything else she stopped abruptly and faced our teacher. Claire spread her arms out as if she was even remotely big enough to stop an adult.

"YOU! SHALL! NOT!" Claire started shouting like a raving lunatic then stopped, "Wait, what was that last part again?"

I decided to honor her sacrifice and ran straight through the playground, hoping that my driver was already waiting there on the other side for me. I looked back as Claire wrapped her arms on Ms. Irene's legs and stop her from moving further.

Not bad, dumbass. Not bad at all.

* * *

"Claire, would you please let go of me and tell me what's going on?" I asked the little girl clinging to my legs like a manic gecko. She's a lot stronger than I expected and if I struggled too much we'd both fall down.

"No!" She shouted at me, clinging tighter like a baby with trust issues. "She's on an important mission! This is the only way I can help."

Amy, on an important mission? What could she possibly need to do that she'd justify cutting classes? With her good grades, you'd think she'd be more hesitant to risk her academic standing. Something incredibly critical must be at stake if she needed to go to this length.

More importantly, I need to get this child-formed shackles off of me.

"Look, Claire, it's good that you're standing up for your friend," I say while gently patting her head. Kids like that right? I'm only good at the teaching part of my job, connecting with my students is…considerably more difficult. "I want to help her too."

I felt her grip loosen and watched her look up at me.

"You can't help her," She said with sincere neutrality in her voice, "She's fighting a monster."

A monster? Could she mean…

"What kind of monster would she fight?" I asked, my heart beating nervously and excitedly at the same time. I hate to admit it, but after seeing that Hunting Horn user fight a Zinogre at our school before, I also wanted to experience fighting a real live monster.

Claire looked at me with measuring curiosity, making it clear that she wasn't as naïve as she seemed. It was like she was gauging whether or not I actually believed her. I had to convince her that she can trust me, that I can help. I've never actually done anything for my students before, but if I can actually help her maybe she'd open up to me. And if one child gets closer, the others would follow.

All things considered, this is a perfect situation for me to show my capabilities as a true teacher. If I pull this off, there's a 75% chance that my students would have a newfound respect for me.

She shrugged, saying something about Amy talking about an 'explodey' monster. And if you put the terms explosions and monster together, you usually get a Brachydios. I cannot allow my student to fight a Brachydios, not by herself at least.

If Amy really is a monster hunter, then logically she's with the Hunting Horn guy. Which means this isn't her first rodeo. That doesn't exactly mean she's safe, though.

"Alright, Amy's safe," I heard Claire say as she starts walking away from me, "Bye now, Ms. Irene!"

I reached out and grabbed her uniform before she could escape from me, "Hold on."

"Tell me where she's going."

* * *

I said goodbye to Julie as Amy's car shows up and she tells me to get in. I open the front door and saw the twins already sitting in the back with Amy.

"Be careful," Julie said as I entered the car.

"I'm a berserker, I can't promise that," I reply, trying to act as cool as possible, and hit my head on the car's doorway instead. "See? I'm very careful."

Julie giggled as the other three kids laughed at me, and we waved another goodbye as the car drove off.

"You guys should just fuck and get it over with," Amy says, causing the twins to laugh again.

"Wait what does that mean?" Yuri asks.

Yuel was quick to reply, "It means-"

"ANYWAY," I disrupt, "We need to prepare for the mission. I'm sure all of you have fought a Brachydios before. In game, at least."

"Should we even assume it's a Brachy?" Yuri asks, "I mean, I'm not an expert so I dunno if there are other monsters that are good at exploding stuff."

"Well, it can't be a Gogmazios or a Teostra…" Amy pondered, "…right?"

I gulped. There's no way that we'd have to fight an elder dragon, no way that's just not possible. Regular monsters are already annoyingly hard to kill in real life, an elder dragon would be torture. I'm the eldest right now, I have to keep these guys safe or Indigo will never forgive me. I need to be the substitute leader, even though Indigo was never officially our leader anyway. He was just the oldest when the Raptor Brothers group was made.

"It doesn't matter," I tell them, looking as confident as possible, "You three play it safe, I'll get up close and kick whatever monster's ass we have to face."

I tell Amy to do what she does best and hang back and snipe. Yuri should focus on protecting Amy while Yuel will be my back up DPS, attacking the enemy while it's focused on me. When the opportunity shows up, Yuri can go in and spam gunlance blasts and wyvern fires but should prioritize keeping himself and the sniper unharmed. The sniper should focus on crippling the enemy as soon as possible, be it via movement or attacking capability. I'll figure out where to hurt the enemy the most and just spam that weakpoint.

"Not bad, runt" Amy grinned, "I thought you were just the basic berserker-type who attacks and keeps attacking until something dies."

"It's just what I'm good at, but not what I'm all about."

Yuri raised his hand. I told him that was unnecessary and asked what his concern was.

"Amy's hunter is,like, untargettable when there are other hunters around right?" He said and we nodded although that was just a high chance and not an absolute, happy that he actually pays attention to his teammates' abilities. "Then I don't need to protect her. I want to stick with Yuel and kick some monster butt too."

"She may be mostly untargettable," I reply, "But what if she gets hit by a random explosion or some kind of environmental debris?"

"Hey," Amy butted in, "I can take care of myself."

"I know that but I need you to focus on attacking."

"I can multi-task." She replied with arms crossed. "I'm sure you're aware of my skills. Now that I think about it, I can see the big picture during the battle because of my vantage points, maybe _I_ should be calling the shots."

"Yeah but I'm the middle of the fight, I'll have a better feel of the situation," I snap back, getting slightly annoyed that this kid is trying to 1-up me, "I've got enough combat experience and I'm more capable than Char and Indigo and you know it."

"Just because you're good at the game doesn't give you a true, real life, combat sense." Amy answered back, looking annoyed.

"And you're more qualified than me? You're just a glorified child genius, that won't help you in a fight."

Yuri came between us and held both hands to our faces, pushing us back to our seats. Well more like he pushed Amy back to her seat and nearly pushed me off mine since I was in front.

"Why are you guys fighting?" He asks with a worried look, "We're a team, we should be working together."

I turned to the window and held back my voice, afraid to say anything else. I dunno why I just got agitated all of a sudden, I just never did like the way Amy and Arachnid acts as if they were better than anyone of us. When it was just the first five of us Raptor Brothers, I was the one with the best armor and highest Hunting Rank. Out of all of us, I was the one who really took my time with the game, heck it was all I could afford to play. Then out of nowhere comes this bratty little rich girl acting all high and mighty. Before I knew it, she was the one carrying the team.

The rest of the ride was full of awkward silence with Yuri and Yuel trying to break the ice but failing, causing an increase in the awkwardness.

We arrived to a construction site by the side of the road, a seemingly big lot with piles of gravel and cement lying around. The actual construction hasn't began yet, and the only things that made it look like a construction site were the steel beams lying around as well as a crane(the machine not the bird).

"Let's scout around quietly," I said with a low voice, "Try to find the monster before it finds us."

"Follow my lead," Amy said the same I did, and we glared at each other.

Yuri and Yuel sighed, and talked simultaneously in full sync, "Follow OUR lead."

The twins walked slowly ahead of us, with Amy and I quietly following them. We each kept ourselves aware of the surroundings, trying to feel for even the slightest tremor or even a noise that may have come from a monster.

I stepped on a muddy patch and winced as I looked at the soil beneath my feet, it rained early this morning and some parts of the ground were only slightly dry and solid. Thankfully I wasn't wearing any pure white shoes today. I looked at Amy and found out that she made the mistake I was thankful not to make.

"Tsk," Amy smirked looking at her muddied doll shoes, "Perfect day to wear these huh."

"Guys, look," Yuel pointed to the distance. There was nothing besides the construction equipment and a considerably large boulder. "That rock looks so out of place."

I looked at the boulder again. Yeah, it does feel out of place, like it wasn't completely solid and looked like it could topple off and break anytime. It was almost as if the boulder had just been dug out of the soil we were walking on.

Wait-

"We need to get out of here now!" Amy shouted and started running towards the road, out of the site. Out of instinct we all ran with her as the ground started to shake.

I looked back to see a large part of the ground give way, right we were moments ago. Bits and pieces of soil shoot up like a geyser as a bright green and orange blur burst out of it with such vigor.

The afternoon sun shone bright, causing the green scales to reflect like a prism with it's green and orange blend. It landed with an even more violent shake, four legs planted at the ground as its sharp tusk and spiked head turn toward us.

"Oh shit…," I spoke, instinctively saying what needed to be said.

The Berserk Tetsucabra tensed as it saw new potential prey. It's mouth exhume smoke as a fiery glow erupts from it's face.

"…waddup."

* * *

Claire didn't exactly know where Amy was going, all she knew was that it was a nearby construction site of some sort. That was easy to find since there were only three nearby construction sites and only one of them had started generating a loud roar.

With my student unyielding, I had to bring Claire with me as we ran towards the place of danger.

As the ground broken, debris-filled area came into view I saw 3 armored hunters and a kid standing by the road. The kid is not Amy, either she was never here or she's one of the hunters.

"I told you to keep it in the bag before we went to sleep," one of the hunters spoke. He wore what looked like a variant Gore armor set with a black lance. "Now we're one guy short, and we can't keep you safe and fight at the same time!"

"Sorry, El," The kid replied, looking down while wringing the edge of his shirt, "I forgot."

"Call me Yang when the armor is on."

"Oh yeah, sorry."

The other two noticed us. One of them was in that DLC Star Knight armor with what looked like Dalamadur Dual Blades. The other was in a dark colored Nerscylla armor with a rifle-looking heavy bowgun.

"What are you doing here Cla-" The Sniper-Hunter shouted, the stopped mid-shout, "-I mean, random passerby child?!"

"Lady," The DB Hunter spoke, "This is a dangerous place please leave."

"Amy! Xavier! Yuri! Yuel!" Claire shouted, practically jumping with each shout, "Miss Irene says she can help."

Sniper and DB hunter's answer was a simple facepalm. The Lance hunter wasn't listening but was arguing with the kid, telling him to run back to their car and stay away. The kid doesn't want to be left out of the fight and thinks he can help even without "Yin", whatever that means.

"Ms. Irene, was it?" The sniper hunter asked, stepping forward with an air of formality I've seen before. "We suggest you take the kids and stay away. We have a car nearby that can get you to a safe place."

"Nice try, Amy," I replied with a grin, "I know it's you."

The huntress tensed, looking obviously irritated even though her face was covered. She walked towards Claire and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"You failed! You nincompoop, I thought you were helping keep the teacher away from us. " She shouted at her while comedically shaking her back and forth. "As punishment you will give me a chocolate offering every day."

Claire couldn't respond, going dizzy from the shaking she just nodded the best she could.

"All manner of joking aside," I spoke up, "I can't let you just risk your life out there."

"Ma'am, I have been doing this for a while now." Amy replied, her voice sounding even more mature through her hunter. "With all due respect, suck it."

"Whatever," The DB Hunter sighed, "You guys wanna talk go ahead, I'll go do what we were supposed to be doing in the first place."

He then ran straight towards an idle Berserk Tetsucabra, who seemed to be waiting for the enemy to come to him. The Lance Hunter followed the DB Hunter, while the monster watched them run closer, waiting for the time to strike. I found that weird, considering most Tetsus are very aggressive. Are the monsters getting smarter? Or was the monster entertained with the arguing we humans were doing and decided to watch?

"Please," Amy said, "Let us professionals handle this. What could you, a teacher, possibly do to help me anyway?"

"Oh, my dear student," I replied with a smirk, all while taking my 3ds out from my bag, "Weren't you taught about not judging a book by its cover?"

She looked at the console in my hands, then looked at me.

"Try to keep up."

* * *

I ran straight at the enemy, my dual blades at the ready, screaming a war cry as the giant toad hops backwards.

It's getting ready for a piledriver attack, I thought, and side stepped just in time to avoid it. Waves of dirt and gravel flew around me as its tusk dug up the ground with reckless abandon.

"You ain't getting me that easily," I murmured, then heard a pained cry from behind me.

"Ahhh! It got me!" Yang said, flailing wildly in the air. He managed to flip around and land back on his fit as he fell to the ground.

He propped himself up with the lance and readied himself for another round.

"Why didn't you dodge it?"I asked as I stood beside him.

"I was charging at it," He replied, "Couldn't react in time."

"Be more careful," I scold him, "Lance users like you need to be mindful of openings, both the enemies' and yours."

He nodded and we ran to each side of the Tetsu, hoping to flank it. Its tail wasn't swollen yet so our best bet was either the tusks or the hind legs. I signal Yang to go for the tusk in hopes of breaking it as soon as possible, while I focus on its leg to make it trip.

"I got you now, bitch," I grin as I start hack and slashing its tiny little frog legs, waiting for a flinch to demon dance it to hell.

What I didn't expect was for the enemy to counterattack quickly, lifting its body to the side and about to pound me to the ground. I was still in the middle of an attack, at this point even if I could quickly dodge out of my attack there was no way I could get far enough to not get slammed.

Could I side step it? Possibly dodge it by a hair's breadth, hoping to slip through its tail or legs and not get hit?

There was no time, the large Berserk Tetsucabra's underbelly was about to go down, crushing me with raw force.

Until a colorful flash of energy erupted below me. The sudden burst was so surprising I couldn't understand what was happening. In a split second, some kind of energy blew up from the ground. I felt myself pushed away with such overwhelming but not painful power that I thought I had exploded.

The next moment the Tetsu had slammed down on an empty ground, and I was already a couple of feet away from it.

"What the fuck…" was all I could say, as I watch Arachnid join the fight with another hunter, her weapon planted to the ground.

The other hunter took her weapon out of the ground, it looked like a greatsword, but…different.

A switch axe!

"If it makes you feel any better, you had a 50% chance of surviving that attack," The other hunter says, Her armor set looks like an old japanese warrior of sorts, with blue and white armor platings on top of a hakama,probably the High rank Dahren Mohran set. Her switch axe looks like a Seregios', like the Aksa Switch I guess. "But, hey, I don't like taking chances."

She transforms her weapon back into axe mode, and carries the long weapon across her back like a rod.

"What the hell was that?" Arachnid asks loudly, looking more bewildered than I was.

"Simple." She replied, "I sent waves of my phial's energy through the ground, and made it erupt at his exact position. I adjusted the explosion so it would send him backwards at a 35 degree angle, that way he'd be far enough from the danger zone of the attack."

"Bullshit, there's no way you could do that," Arachnid waved her off as she prepares her heavy bowgun.

"Except I did."

Without any further replies, Arachid started bombarding the enemy with her shots, each attack piercing through the Tetsu's thick skin. The first tusk broke before I could even get up and ready myself.

"Hey! Leave some for me!" Yang shouted as he charged straight at the enemy, who was about to do another piledriver. Instead of getting hit like before Yang leaped forward, twisting through the air and pointing his shield downwards, protecting him from the attack and launching him across the air into a safe landing next to me. "Nice! Didn't know I could do that."

The collision of Yang's aerial shield technique must have hurt the Tetsucabra, as I can see more cracks within its tusks and the noticeable fatigue it's beginning to show.

"Approximately 90% of its attacks should weaken," The other hunter noted, "It looks tired."

"Let's just kill it," Arachnid replied as she reloads. "By the way, what is your hunter name?"

"It may sound lame," she answered as she walked closer to the enemy, "But it's Sokkatoa. Based on-"

"I know what it's based on."

Yang raised his hand, "I don't."

To be fair, me neither.

"It's based on SOHCAHTOA," Arachnid sighed, spelling it out for us. "Sine equals opposite of Hypotenuse. Cosine equals adjacent over Hypotenus-"

"Alright! Alright, we get it!" I cut her short, not wanting spoilers for my academic lessons.

Yang raised his hand again, "What does any of those mean?"

None of us answered as the Tetsucabra tried attacking again, weak as it may be. It dug up another boulder from the ground, this one looking hot and explosive, and rolled it towards Arachnid and Sokkatoa.

It was a fairly slow and easy to evade boulder, but as we all expected the Tetsucabra leapt towards Arachnid. She rolled to the side and countered with a shot, while Sokkatoa ran close and slammed her axe on the enemy's tail.

That caused it to flinch, giving us all a split second opportunity to either regain our bearings or set up our attacks. Arachnid repositioned at a farther location, Yang sheathed his weapon and sprinted to the enemy, and I drank a mega dash juice for the sake of abusing my demon mode. Sokkatoa was just standing around though, mumbling words I couldn't clearly hear.

Regardless, I was confident that we were close to finishing this quest. We just gotta hold out a little longer and kick some Cabra ass.

* * *

It sucks that I forgot my 3ds at home, but hey at least there's another hunter to help out El and Amy and Xavier. Plus she's got that weapon I had a hard time trying in the game, the _sword-axe_ …or something like that.

"Hey, where you goin?" I ask Claire, who stepped out of the car.

"I wanna watch," She replied, walking towards the combat area with me in tow.

The loud crack of explosions and shockwaves made me jump, and I saw that Claire had covered her ears. In the distance I could hear the loud grunts and groans of hunters, combined with the sounds of weapons hitting hard scaly flesh.

We kept as much distance as we can, trying to keep ourselves as unnoticeable as possible, and watched an awesome battle unfold before our very eyes.

The sword-axe hunter(who's name was Sokkitowa or something, I think) and Saber were flowing through the enemy like some kind of sharp, bloodthirsty water. Each attack felt calculated, even for our team berserker, aimed for weakpoints spotted and called out by Arachnid.

Arachnid and Yang were focus firing on potential weakpoints, breaking parts and making it more exposed for Saber and Sokkitowa's attacks. Sokki was saying something about numbers and helping Saber on when and where to attack, as well as giving him estimates on where the enemy could attack next and what attack it could use.

"It's about to flinch," Sokkitowa shouted, "Someone flinch it so Saber or myself could mount it!"

"Easy as fucking pie!" Arachnid shouted back and shot the giant toad right between the eyes, causing to flinch but somehow not blinded or straight up dead.

"Watch your language lady," Sokki replied while Saber tried to mount the Tetsucabra.

"I said PUMPKIN Pie!" Arachnid answered as Saber successfully mounts the frog and starts going happy-stabby all over its back.

The Berserk Tetsucabra toppled over, it's legs spread eagled as if it had accepted death, which was definitely on its way.

"By my calculations," Sokki said, transforming her weapon to sword mode. The sword glowed and shivered with phial energy, like some kind of giant, bladed, taser. "This would be the killing blow."

The other three stood and watched as Sokki's glowing sword plunged straight into the Tetsucabra's chest, the enemy's body glowing and pulsing with the phial overload.

"THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE!" Sokkitowa screamed as the light from her overload grew stronger and wilder, "AND NOW YOU DIE!"

With her last word the Berserk Tetsucabra's chest exploded, guts, and innards flying all over the place as the hunters were sprayed with reptilian monster blood. What remained was a giant fleshy crater smoking with the remaining phial energy it was overloaded with.

A strong stench from the internal organs wafted to our watching place, and me and Claire tried our best to not vomit from the smell.

"Smells like the wet market," Claire giggled, "But stinkier."

"I can't believe your teacher is such a bad-butt," I say in awe.

"You mean bad-ass," She said with another giggle, ruffling my hair as if I was her pet dog. Not that I mind it.

And as I watch the four hunters come together and look at the gory mess they made, I hoped that this new hunter would join us.

* * *

"Oh my, I don't know what came over me," I tell no one in particular as I catch my breath. This was the first actual combat I've had in my hunter form and by god it was exhausting. "I'm sorry, I don't usually scream like a bloodthirsty madman."

"It's probably some kind of effect from synchronizing with your hunter," Amy said with a smile I've never seen her wear in class. "But hey, it's good to know that you've got some big brass balls."

"Language." I scold her, gritting my teeth.

"I said BOWLS!" Amy shouted lifting her hands in annoyance, "Jeez, don't be a killjoy."

The other two laughed, and I noticed that they were also both kids. Both of them looked like they were 3rd graders or something.

"I can see the way you're looking at me," The other kid spoke up, "I'm Xavier, and I'm in 8th grade. This other kid and his twin over there are Yuel and Yuri, they're in 3rd grade."

"Please do not mention that we're roughly the same height," Yuel, or Yuri, I think, told me. Xavier growled at him jokingly and he jokingly cowered back.

Amy went up to the three kids now dicking around with the Tetsucabra's innards, "Not bad, berserker. You actually know how to think in a fight."

"It took you this long to realize?!" Saber replied with an arrogant air, "In any case, you weren't so bad yourself. How'd you know which parts to hit for maximum damage?"

Amy shrugged, telling him that a girl needs to keep her secrets, which I found pretty adorable. I wasn't aware that she had this many…friends. She always seemed so distant in class, and looked like she was only tolerating Claire who keeps sticking with her.

But I was wrong, her friends were simply somewhere else, in this group she's a part in. She probably doesn't realize it, with her high-and-mighty attitude, but she's finally found a place where she belongs. At least, that's what I can tell from the way she smiles when she's with them. I always thought her only emotion was a resting bitch face. Good to see I was wrong.

I might let Claire and Amy slide for ditching school for this, and technically I did too. But now that her secret's been found out and my secret's been found out… what do we do next?

I ask her exactly that, wanting to hear her input.

"Well," Amy mused, "I don't like the idea of working with my own teacher, but…"

"We could use a calculated DPS like her," Saber said, and the twins agreed.

"There you have it," Amy said with her arms crossed, "We'll recruit you, if you want to join us that is."

I look at them, they're all just kids. Having to fight something like these monsters is no game, despite the reality coming from a video game. I can't just let them fight by themselves right, not to mention one of them is my student.

It's my responsibility to look after these kids, as well as educate them as necessary. Joining this team would not only get me closer to Amy and Claire, but closer to being the true teacher that I've always wanted to be.

I nodded with a smile I haven't worn for a long time. A real hardfelt smile that makes me feel warm in my heart.

"Good to know," Amy said, and gave her phone to Claire, "Call that idiot who thinks he has a chance with you. He's gonna want to hear this."

"Okay," Claire replied, dialing someone's number, "But I thought he was trying to get with you."

Wait, are these two talking about what I think they're talking about?

Is a kid from another school actually trying to get with my girls? My students? Tsk, kids nowadays.

Now this I just gotta see.


	14. Chapter 14: Trigger Warning

Chapter 14: Trigger Warning: Gore and Pedophilia

"Good morning everyone," Indigo spoke up as we all sat in a circle of chairs. My brother stood in the middle as if he was some kind of preacher or mafia boss or something, "I'm sure you would all like to know why I called you here today."

"We all know that we're having a meeting to discuss the new recruits," I said as straightforward as possible, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible as I hated introduction bullshit like this. There's nothing more anxiety inducing than having to speak up and introduce yourself in front of a bunch of people. I mean sure, we ain't strangers to each other, but still I don't find this necessary.

"Can't you please just let me have some fun every once in a while?" Indigo rebuts, looking mildly annoyed but largely unaffected. "Anyways, we got two new recruits from the other day, but we'll include Charlie 'cause he didn't get a very formal initiation to the team."

"Neither did we," Amy said, pointing to herself and the twins. "Or Simon, if he's even a part of this."

"He said he's joining," Char answered, although the person he's talking about isn't here. "He's just like a very moody cat, you never know when he'll actually give a shit about you."

"You can never trust a cop," Amy replied and Indigo agreed. Char shrugged at them and the 'meeting continued.'

Fast forward through the unnecessary banter, and Charlie came up to introduce himself and his hunter. I took notes in my journal to help us review any combat information about the team members, so Indigo and everyone else could easily strategize and train their skills.

First up is Charlie Anderson, the so-called 'progenitor' of some anime-ish School of culinary arts, whatever that means.

 **Charlie's character:**

Name: Rezamesu

Gender in-game: Male

Weapon: Greatsword (Toad Bereaver)

Armor Set: Bistro Suit

Preferred Role: Technique-based Berserker

Rezamesu is considered technique-based due to his dependence on his 'special moves'. They're basically flashier basic attacks that seem to have an imbued flame element that not only damages the enemy but 'cooks' the attacked body part/s to an intense level. Cooked wounds are unrecoverable and could be ideal in the off chance that a monster gets away and we'll need to hunt it another day.

Onto his personal skills. The first one is his 'Blazing Chef' passive, which allowed him to carry his Greatsword as if it was a mere cooking knife, as well as his cooking ability as already discussed above. The other one is his 'Final Form' which was vaguely explained as 'An unleashing of the awakened and true form of a hero', which was something we've never seen and Charlie has no idea how to use.

"Oy, at least it sounds awesome, innit?" He grins, I make an extra note that his foreign accent could never be pinpointed to one type or stereotype. It's possible that he's faking or has a weird hybrid accent. "Don't worry lads, one o' these days I'll figure it out. Then we'll see who's the real hot potato around here."

"I have no idea what that means but I support you!" Claire exclaims, "Hooray for potatoes!"

"Hooray!" Indigo, and nobody else, joined in. The two of them sank back to their seats in defeat.

Next up was me, and I had already noted all my skills in the journal (with some additional notes by my brother), so I just reiterated them to the team.

 **Frank's Character:**

Name: Artemis

Gender in-game: Female

Armor Set: Lagiacrus X

Weapon: Bow (Hyperion Bow)

Preferred Role: Support Sniper

Unlike Arachnid, who's an offense-type sniper, Artemis was support focused. Her specialty (so far) was debuffing and debilitating monsters with her modified trick arrows.

Speaking of trick arrows, her first personal skill is 'Impromptu Opus ', which allows her to modify certain items in her inventory into trick arrows. A good example would be her Shock Trap arrow, which was basically an arrow that turns into a shock trap on impact. The science or logic behind them are unexplained. We still have yet to experiment on which items are 'arrow-able' and their respective scopes and limitations.

The second personal skill is another passive called 'Learn My Dread' which is apparently an aura of fear which increases nearby enemies' susceptibility to flinching, mounting, and trapping.

"I thought you wanted to be a mage," Yuri noted. He was actually paying attention, which was surprising for a kid his age.

"I'm working on it," I replied, "This is the closest I can get right now."

"I really like how you're second personal skill sounds like the theme song of Persona 3," Amy said with a grin.

"I understood that reference!" Indigo stood up again with his finger pointed at her, and no one else said anything about it. "Oh come on! No one else played Persona 3 here? Shame on you guys."

"Eh," Charlie waved his hand in a so-so manner, "I preferred the 4th one. I found the whole 'shoot yourself in the head' thing a little too edgy."

Claire nodded, "Mm-hmm, shooting yourself in the head is not cool. Suicide is not cool."

"But it's-" Indigo tried to explain, but stopped himself, "Nevermind, if you know me well enough you know I loved Persona 4 too."

"Why?" Yuri asked.

"Ehem—Nanako—Ehem!" Charlie cleared his throat, and Indigo gave him a fist bump.

"We are getting out of topic," Amy spoke up through the rabble, "Next!"

The other recruit stood up, a woman who looks to be in her 20s, just a few inches shorter than Indigo. She introduced herself as Irene Williams, Amy and Claire's Mathematics and Homeroom teacher. She's one of those 'cool teachers' that despite being incredibly studious was also a gamer and updated with enough pop culture to keep her from being too 'normal' (Indigo's words, not mine).

 **Irene's Character:**

Name: Sokkatoa

Gender In-game: Female

Armor Set: Hyuga

Weapon: Switch-Axe (Aksha Switch)

Preferred Role: Support DPS

According to Amy's mission report, Sokkatoa showed an incredible ability to accurately calculate combat statistics, both on enemies and allies. This allows her to support the team by calling out when and where to ideally attack, dodge a potential incoming attack, and optimal openings and opportunities that her teammates can exploit. Despite having lower-leveled equipment and basic combat maneuvers than everyone else, she makes up for it with her intel and nearly Sherlock-level deduction skills. Of course, she disclaims that her calculations are never 100% certain, and there will always be room for Murphy 's Law.

As for her personal skills, one of them is "Numbers Don't Lie" which allows her too see/feel the previously stated statistics, and increases her 'combat IQ' when synced with her hunter. The other one is another passive called 'Calculated Burst' which means that she can easily manipulate how her switch axe phial charges explode. Xavier has vouched for this skill, saying that she made the explosion travel through the ground in order to save his life once.

"Beginner's luck," Irene says, smiling from the praise, "But I'll get better with it."

"Wait, are you telling me that I just got lucky?!" Xavier said, suddenly looking like he had a brush with death. "Holy shit, I almost died!"

"Please mind your language," She replied, not even trying to calm him down, "Kids tend to imitate the older ones, especially when it comes to swearing."

"Hey!" Yuel stood up, weirdly quiet for a while now, "That's not fucking true!"

Everyone laughed at that, including Irene. That's pretty cool, it's good to know that she wasn't a stick in the mud kind of teacher/adult.

"Um, guys," Yuri spoke up, raising his hand, "Doesn't it feel like we're forgetting someone?"

"Ah!" Indigo and Char shouted at the same time, "Simon!"

"I'm sorry, who?" Irene asked me.

I answered with a shrug, "Simon Waltz, a light bowgun user. As far as we know he's an on and off teammate, never really sure if he's really part of the group."

Indigo butted in, placing a hand on my shoulder like some dad or big brother(oh wait, he is), "He may seem doubtful about our team, but if we can encourage or **force** him to be a permanent member we'll be sort of unstoppable."

Hold on, did he say force?

* * *

A few days after our little meeting, we finally found ourselves with a mission request again. The client requested assistance in eliminating a monster that is currently in the uninhabited forest areas, but is slowly getting closer to the city. With the area being near the sea, there were plenty of beaches, resorts, and hotels. The potential risk is too high to allow the monster to just roam around freely while civilians hang out a few miles away from it.

As both the leader and a member of the team, I was more than happy to accept the mission. I could invite everyone to go either to a nearby beach or resort after the mission was done, allowing us to bond even more since we've got a new member. It's not every day we get a chance like this.

"Cool," Claire smiled, "It's been a long time since I've been to the beach."

"Yeah, I could use a good swim," Yuel nodded.

Everyone else agreed, even Frank who usually preferred to stay at home and finish her never-ending school work.

"It's a mission," Frank explained, "I can't sit things out anymore. Plus, I could use some R&R."

"Indeed," Irene noted, "In all 365 days we barely get 5-10% of it to relax, we might as well make the most of this."

"Hold on," Char said, "Going to the beach is nice and all but we still need to fight a monster first. Does the info say anything about what we're up against?"

"Not really," I reply while Frank reread the mission request, "But with all of us there even an elder dragon shouldn't be a problem. Just prepare for the worst enemy, or whatever you hate the most."

Everyone agreed to that, surprisingly enough. While everyone else discussed things like what monster we could end up fighting, or what kind of swimsuit to wear, Amy and I looked over the location for both a strategic planning and to canvass what beach/resort to go to.

"Just pick whatever's clothing optional," I joke, my mind and my eyes wandering over Claire. She'd be fine with that right?

"If it was up to me, we'd leave you behind," Amy rebutted, looking over the digital map of the place. The city itself was near the sea, with a mountain range and a dam nearby. "It'll most likely be staying in the mountain, but if it's a water-habitat monster it could be heading toward the sea."

"Oh I hope it's not a Lagiacrus," I say, having violent flashbacks of MH3U, "God I'd hate to fight anything underwater."

It wasn't just the whole underwater hunting of MH3U that I hated, I hated any kind of sea monster or anything that I'd have to face underwater. As a kid, I always skipped the animal books about sharks or whales. Deep, open waters are scary places, and the things that live in them are ten times scarier.

"By the way, I noticed something," I tell Amy as I sit next to her in front of a laptop, googling around. She was carefully checking each and every hotel nearby the mission area and looking for what I assume is the best balance between luxury and economic options. "Ever since Irene came you've been less talkative than usual."

"What are you talking about? I don't talk much, remember?" She replied, not looking away from the monitor. "I don't waste my time with unnecessary chatter."

I chuckled involuntarily, knowing that she had been more active the last few months that she had gotten accustomed to us. "You always berate me, always have a counter argument, and never miss the opportunity to verbally abuse someone."

She didn't say anything to that, which was weird. She may act incredibly formal to strangers, but once she warms up to you she doesn't stop talking and taking out whatever miniscule anger or irritation she currently has on you.

"Hey, if there's something wrong-"

"There's nothing wrong," she says, looking at me with a sincere and non-hostile look in her eyes. That's a first. "Maybe I just don't feel too comfy with the teacher yet. She's my teacher after all, can you imagine hanging out with yours when you were a kid?"

She has a point, back when I was a kid I only saw my teachers as creatures designed to make my school life more miserable.

"I get you, believe me I do," I reply, putting a hand on her shoulder, a hand she quickly brushes off with a violent slap. "But she's not just your teacher now, she's with us, she's a friend. You'll have to see her for the person she is and accept her for that."

"I don't have 'friends'." She replies, looking back at the monitor and giving me the cold shoulder.

"You know that's not true." I give a final word before I leave to hang out with the others.

* * *

"What do you mean you're not coming?" I overheard Char speaking on his phone. I was busy reequipping my Saber's dual blades when his voice brought me back to reality, "Can't that drug cartel wait? I mean it's not like they could potentially kill a lot of people right? Hello? Simon?!"

"Aww, did your boyfriend break up with you?" I teasingly ask my cousin.

"He hung up on me," Char replied, looking furiously at his cellphone, "What a team player."

"He's a BAMF," I told him as I save my game and put the 2DS back to sleep mode, "He does what he wants."

"Yeah he is," He answered with a smirk, " **B** ad **A** t **M** aking **F** riends."

So that's basically how the whole team except one 'member' ended up taking on another monster slaying mission. A mission they all hope to finish quickly so they had more time chillaxing on a nearby resort.

After a day of preparation we finally found ourselves in a carpool, making our way through a 3 hour trip to the sea and mountain side city that we have been summoned to. I was in Indigo's dad's car, along with Claire, Char, and Charlie. Frank, the twins, and Irene were with Amy and her driver in their car.

"I'm surprised Amy let Claire ride with you," I tell Indigo, knowing he's probably in cloud nine right now with Claire in the passenger seat.

"It was Claire's idea," He grinned as he looked at Claire.

"It was the only way I was going to ride shotgun," Claire replied with a smiled, "Besides, I think Indigo's an okay driver, I trust him."

"I don't," Char replied, "Why do you think Frank made sure to get in Amy's car? Last time this guy drove for us, he almost gave me a heart attack."

"Hey, that was 3 years ago!" Indigo replied right after almost hitting another car he was trying to overtake, "Whoops, sorry, it's been a while since I drived."

Char didn't say anything, he just pointed at Indigo, then the car we almost hit and did a lot of exaggerated hand gestures that seem to say, 'See?! What the fuck did I tell you?! No monster can kill us but this guy definitely will!'

Charlie, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly and even snoring. Claire and I decided to take a photo and snapchat him to the whole group.

"Put a caption," Char said, "Something that goes, 'This guy may never get to wake up' or something."

"Aww," Claire answered with a teasing frown, "Don't be mean to Indie."

"Ooh, take that Char," Indigo followed up, "Have some faith in me for once."

"I thought you don't like getting called Indie?!"

He just shrugged and for some reason we all laughed at that, and even though still fearing for his life Char seemed to relax a bit as we got closer to our destination. Let's face it, we could all use some R&R.

* * *

Hi, this is Indigo on today's 'CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE IT?!'

It's the researcher guy, again. The same asshole who made us fight a Rathian and Rathalos on a moving train so he could smuggle the eggs for 'science'. The same asshole who almost got us and a bunch of other people killed just to trap a Deviljho for 'science'.

"So what kind of unreasonable bullshit do you have for us now?" I ask him, who introduced himself as Aldritch Adams, as we now stand in a hotel lobby in the heart of the city.

"Please don't get mad," Aldritch replied, looking the same as he did before. The whole nerdy stereotype package, with the glasses and polos and unkempt hair. "You guys are the only ones I can count on, since everyone else won't accept missions from me, and the foreign mercenaries are too expensive."

He sighed and adjusted his glasses as we nod that we will be listening.

"As you know,our team is trying to research different monsters in hopes of scientific breakthroughs that can improve different aspects of our lives." He started, showing us different documents that his research team had previously worked on. "For now, we want to examine a certain monster with the ability to infect other monsters around it. And I do believe it has been sighted nearby."

A monster that could infect other monsters? Could it be…

"A Gore Magala," Amy said, eyeing him sternly, "Is that what you're getting at?"

"Yes," Aldritch answered with a simple nod, "The request is for you to kill the nearby Gore Magala. As soon as it is confirmed dead, my team will go in and take samples of it. You only need to make sure that it will be too dead to pose a threat to us."

"That doesn't sound so hard now, innit?" Charlie spoke up, "I mean with how many of us there is I doubt even a bloody Gore Magala could stand a chance."

"Agreed," the researcher nodded again, "We'll take care of your lodgings, imagine what we could achieve if we could use the Frenzy virus to our own cause."

"Alright, fine we'll do your stupid mission," I said, and asked the others if they were good for lunchtime and they agreed., "Cool, tell your science team to be ready by…say… _high noon_?"

I felt a strong punch to my side and saw that Amy was not entertained. Claire was smiling without actually knowing the reference, so I count that as a win.

With that, our mission was set, and I arranged for the researcher guy and his friends to look after Claire while we hunt, even though I was confident that she can take care of herself.

"But I wanna go with you guys," She says, walking beside me as we exited the hotel, "I won't get in the way, I swear!"

"Look, sweetheart," I reply as sincere as I can, "I trust you, but a Gore Magala is too dangerous. Everyone else will be in hunting form and the fight could get hectic and I can't risk anything. Please let me keep you safe."

She stopped walking and looked down, crumpling the edges of her dress with her hands, "Okay, come back soon."

Amy walked up to her and knocked on her forehead with a knuckle, it didn't look like it hurt but it took Claire by surprise.

"Hey, don't fret, you're lucky you get to chill in the hotel room while I have to walk up a mountain and hunt the edgelord of monsters. Don't get in any trouble, okay, dumbass?"

Claire smiled at that, which makes me wonder exactly how Amy's verbal bullshit works, and our tag along went back up to the hotel room.

"That should get her off our backs," Amy grinned, "Let's hope she doesn't take too much from the snack bar."

Apparently Charlie overheard us and walked next to us, "Geez you're such a good friend Amy. _Yare yare daze,_ with mates like these who needs enemies am I right?"

I shrugged at them, hoping that Amy was just acting slightly tsundere as usual. I'm sure she genuinely cares about her best friend…right?

* * *

"How you doin' Amy?" I heard Char ask me as we walked with the rest of the team. The surroundings of the mountain path was full of the luscious forest scenery, which would be great if not for all the insects and dirt and all the other animals that God seems to have designed to specifically annoy humans.

"An upper-class lady like me doesn't deserve this," I reply, swatting a fly that's been hovering near my face for the last minute. Why the fuck do they do that?

"Hmm," Ms. Irene said, equally annoyed from the forest trek, "You're upper-class alright, but I doubt the whole lady part. After spending more time with you and the group, I suggest you tone down the whole bitch act and try to actually be a lady."

"What act?" I ask, swatting on the same fly AGAIN. "Goddamit! What is wrong with you?!"

I take my 3DS out, ready to transform and smash this thing with the butt of my bowgun. Indigo stopped me before I could even flip the damn thing from sleep mode.

"We need to conserve our energy as much as possible," He says, "I will not have anyone turn back to normal in the middle of a fight. I'm sure you guys know how that feels."

Char,Xavier, and I nod. I noticed that the fly was getting closer to my face again and prepared to swat it, when out of nowhere Indigo's hands shot out and caught it.

"Holy fuck." I felt my mouth move on its own. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Eh, lucky shot," Indigo shrugged. He threw the dead fly on the ground and stepped on it for good measure, then took out and used a hand sanitizer.

"I always knew you were a newtype," Char said, and didn't bother explaining what that meant. It's either a JoJo reference or a Gundam reference. Or maybe it's a Lazy Town reference, I don't know. Heck, I don't actually care.

So we got a little quiet and walked in silence. Later on, Yuri started pulling on Char's hand.

"Is it still far?" The little boy asked, with his twin looking at him and their big brother with curiosity, "I'm getting tired, will you carry me?"

Char carried him, which resulted to Yuel getting envious, so Indigo carried him, which resulted to…

"Hey!" I shouted, noting that I'm also a little kid and deserves some spoiling, "How about me?!"

"Ah, you want me to carry you?" Indigo replied with a grin only a guy like him could have.

"You want me to suck your dick while you're at it? HELL NO!" I shout at him, surprised that no one else but Indigo and Ms. Irene were volunteering. "Anyone else who's not my teacher or a pedophile?"

I look at Xavier, he looked away, saying, "Eh, you look heavy."

Maybe I should've just punched him, but I had a better retort, "And you look too small to carry me anyway."

Char and Indigo burst into laughter, like true brothers do. Xavier looked like he had more to say, but was probably too bummed from the walking to do anything else.

I look at Charlie, but before I could completely gaze at him he walked twice as fast and went ahead from the group.

"Don't even think about it," Frank said before I could look at her, "You're practically 12 anyway, you don't need to be carried."

"Yeah, you're right." I reply, "After all, I'm the one carrying you when we play video games."

Frank shrugged at that and Ms. Irene volunteered again. I thought long and hard, was the relaxation of my feet worthy of losing my dignity?

I didn't have to worry about that, as we suddenly heard loud scraping noises by the trees near us. As if reading the mood, the sky was getting dimmer and it looked like it would rain.

The accelerated heart beats I had from all the walking went even faster as my instinct go into full-on fight or flight mode. Indigo walked ahead and I look to him for guidance, feeling an ironic sense of trust in his leadership.

What's the plan, jackass?

* * *

The noises grew louder, loud thuds in the ground indicating footsteps, leaves scraping wherever the monster walked. With every step we take, loud breathing shook the foliage, as if the monster was becoming aware that someone was looking for it. I hold my breath as I walk ahead of the group, preparing possible strategies and plans depending on what I'm about to see.

We readied our consoles as we walked towards a small ledge, with the creature stalking around a few feet below it. It felt like we everyone was holding their breaths in hopes that it wouldn't detect us before we could launch a surprise attack.

It's right below the low ledge we were on, we could jump down and take it by surprise. If we could kill the Gore Magala before it goes full edgelord on us we'll be able to lessen the potential risks. The last thing I want is one of those powerful darkness explosions it makes.

Besides making sure it dies before it gets super enraged, we also need to make sure that it doesn't try to fly away from us. Oddly enough the monsters we've fought so far never ran away to a different location, but I couldn't afford to let this thing escape if it even decides to try.

I point at Amy and Frank and tell them to target the wings. Which basically meant I had to imitate a shooting gesture and wing flapping in the most awkward and out of place game of charades I've ever experienced.

Everyone was smiling but tried not to laugh, oh well, at least I could lighten them up before a battle. Maybe I was never the leader, just the jester.

Char, Charlie, Xavier, and Irene were to prioritize cutting the tail off. Yuri, Yuel, and I will focus on destroying the head. In retrospect, we should've probably discussed this back at the hotel. Once all parts are broken we go for broke.

Here's hoping no problems arise.

* * *

It's an incredibly liberating feeling, jumping down on a monster as you sync with your hunter. Blades at the ready, I brace for impact as I feel myself become one with Saber. I felt a satisfying squish as I plunge my Demolition Blades on the Gore Magala's back. Blood and slimed mixed together, oozing from its wound as the monster itself shrieks in pain. I went straight into mounting mode, and toppled the gore for everyone else to beat up.

As I go for the tail, I watch as Yang pierced the enemy's throat with his lance, pinning it's head in place as Yin blasts it with a fully charged Wyvern Fire. Arachnid and Artemis were sniping from up the ledge, making sure to break both wings first and foremost.

Before Rezamesu, Sokatoa, Relena and I can even completely ruin the tail, the monster was able to get up and do a quick counter attack. It swung around, hitting whoever was unfortunate enough to be in the area of its tail. That would be the four of us, but Rez quickly dashed in front of me and shielded with his greatsword.

" _Muda muda_!" He screams as the tail collides with his gigantic knife, sending him skidding towards us. We managed to catch him and act like shock absorbers, allowing all of us to get back in the fight faster than expected. " _Oretachi no tamashii wa kudakenai!_ "

"What the hell was that?" Arachnid asked as her shot pierces through one of the wings.

"Weeb speak," Artemis grins, shooting a whetstone-infused arrow at Rezamesu's blade for a quick sharpen.

"I don't need to hear that from someone who listens to K-pop," Rez rebutted, "But thanks, mate. With your quick sharpening arrow, and my greatsword, we'll be unstoppable."

Artemis shrugged, "Only if I can hit you all the time. My aim's still wonky, it's a good thing most of my targets are freaking huge."

"Stay focused," Dirge says as he lands a smash on the Gore's head, breaking it. He jumps back and plays some buffing melodies. "We just might finish this quickly, after all."

"I stabbed it in the throat, and Yin blasted it point-blank," Yang groaned as he goes for a lance-charge, "Why aren't you dead yet?!"

Before any of us could react, the gore magala faced off with Yang with a galloping charge of its own. It was nearly poetic, considering Yang was also wearing a gore magala armor. We watched as the dark knight and the dark dragon charge at each other.

Yang's lance managed to stab the magala on the shoulder, but he was still tackled and flew violently backward. Yin was already waiting and managed to catch him and soften the blow, but they were still sent tumbling on the ground.

"The lance is still in the monster," Sokatoa commented, "If I can strike it with my Switch-axe, there's a 75% chance I could launch it inside and set off a phial charge with the lance."

"Ma'am," Yang said as he stands up, groaning from the pain, "If you can turn my lance into a freaking missile, that would be so cool."

"Go for it," Dirge ordered, nodding at Sokatoa, "Everyone else cover her and keep the Gore Magala busy!"

I didn't even bother answering. I activated my special demon mode, the one that affects my allies, and sprinted straight at the monster. In it's weakened state, the magala couldn't even hit me as I demon dashed my way to it. Like a sharpened gale, I pass through as quickly and as lethally as possible, slashing at its legs to its tail.

"I'll help you with the explosion," Relena said as she finishes charging up her Charge blade.

"As soon as it flinches, that will be our cue." Sokatoa nods at him.

As I finish cutting up the tail, Rezamesu was right behind me to deliver the chopping blow. With one level 3 strike, the tail was decapitated and sent flying off the edge of the forest. We didn't bother with where it went right now, as we were too focused in simply killing the enemy.

"NOW!" Relena and Sokatoa launched their phial charges at Yang's embedded lance, making it glow with an electrical charge and rocket straight into the Gore Magala's body.

Instead of exploding like the Berserk Testsucabra the other day, the Gore Magala let out one final shriek as the lance brutally exits its back like a powerful harpoon-missile hybrid. Bits of internal organs and blood soaked the lance as it lands on the ground, still crackling with energy.

The monster's body shivers for the last time as it crumples dead to the ground, the darkness in the sky fading.

"We…" Dirge whispers as everyone else tries to catch their breath, "We did it?"

"I guess that's what happens when you bring more than 4 hunters in a mission," Amy says as she unsyncs, "You cheese the boss fight."

"Doesn't matter," Indigo replies, unsynced as well, "as long as everyone's safe."

As soon as the research team arrived, we went back to the hotel, slightly unsatisfied with how fast the fight was but thankful that we'll have more time to lounge around.

* * *

"Wow," Claire perked up as she sees us enter the room, "That was faster than I expected."

"I wasn't gonna leave you alone any longer than necessary," I reply as sweet and undouchey as possible. Everyone else's reaction proves I failed.

I look around the room that Claire was staying in, we booked two similar rooms, one for boys and one for girls. The room itself was big enough for four people, so the girls should be fine. For us guys we should be able to manage since the twins and Xavier can probably all fit in one bed.

"I'm not sleeping with those two," Xavier replied when I suggested, "Yuri will cuddle you the same way an anaconda cuddles its food. Yuel has a tendency to kick your ass while he's asleep."

Anyways, the room itself was a simple air-conditioned hotel room. Probably the kind you can expect from a 3.5 star hotel. Clean and large enough to hang around in, there was even a small fridge beside the tv that was surprisingly flat screed. Most hotels I've stayed only had those old fat tvs.

Both rooms had 2 double deckers on each side, for a total of four beds. The bathroom was spacious and bright, with a bathtub that even someone as big as I could relax in.

"I call dibs on top bunk," Amy said, throwing her stuff up the bed.

"I call dibs on the other top bunk," Frank reacted quickly.

The other guys looked at each other as if they just realized something, and they all rushed towards the next room where we would sleep. Huh, good thing I don't give much of a damn where I sleep, as long as it's not too close to the wall or ceiling.

"Thank god we finally have a female adult in the group though," Frank said, grinning at me, "Otherwise a certain someone might suggest getting Amy or Claire to sleep with him."

"Wait," Amy replied, "We HAD adults in the group?"

I shrugged, I couldn't afford to say that my sister caught me spot on as usual.

But who cares, we all get to hang out in the nearby beach, and with the current time of year there's not too much people to make things crowded and uncomfortable.

This time, I'd like to believe that we finally got the chance to fully unwind.

I was about to head over to our room when Irene stopped me.

"Hey," She said with simple smile, "I just wanted to say thank you for letting me come with you guys. I know that I'm still very new in this group, but you guys welcomed me with open arms."

I gave her a thumbs up, as I don't really know how to act cool when dealing with non-children, "You proved your worth when you fought alongside my cousins and Amy the other day. Granted that shouldn't be enough for us to trust you completely, but let's just say that my gut believes that you won't let us down."

"I won't, thank you," She replies, looking more relieved than happy, "No one's ever accepted me into their group like this before, I've always been the odd one out since childhood."

"That's why you fit right in."

* * *

The weather was surprisingly cooperative and we found ourselves genuinely relaxing next to the beach. Char was swimming with the twins, teaching them how to do different swimming techniques I wasn't aware he knew. Frank was paddling along trying to keep up with them, while Amy was in our rented pavilion either reading a book or already asleep. I couldn't tell as she was wearing shades. Irene and Xavier went to a nearby convenience store to get some drinks.

I had just finished grilling a tilapia when Xavier and Irene arrived with a plastic full of snacks and drinks.

"Where's everyone?" She asks. As soon as she puts the plastic bag down, Amy was already right next to it and took out some chips. We were both too surprised to bother asking anything.

So I just told her where everyone else was, as I've stated before.

"How about Claire?" Amy asked, somehow understandable despite having a mouth full of chips. "And…oh shit, where's Indigo?"

Huh, speaking of which they did say something about…

"…going to another area of the beach, I think. Something about it being less populated or something-something optional."

"Did he say anything close to the term clothing-optional?" Amy asks-no, interrogates me, getting threateningly close to my face like a bad cop. She may not admit it but it's pretty obvious she cares about Claire as much as a best friend does. "Just the two of them?! And you didn't stop them?! Do you realize what you've done?!"

"Relax," Irene said putting a hand on her shoulder, "They're in public, I don't think Indigo's that kind of guy to begin with, but even if he is he won't try anything in public."

Amy shrugs, "Yeah, you could be right. Then again if anything happens it's Claire's fault for going with him. I warned her plenty of times that guy was always up to something."

I was going to say something about how Indigo only seems to joke around with his pedophilia, and hasn't exactly done anything _so far_. But we were then distracted by what seems to be a loud argument in a nearby bar.

We all looked to see a bartender getting into a fight with a patron, while other people nearby were arguing and shouting threateningly at one another.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! DO YOU WANT A FIGHT, HUH?!"

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"

And a bunch of other loud obnoxious threats. What the hell was going on?

Char, Frank and the twins had just arrived when the fight went full-blown brawl and people were kicking each others asses like a PG version of the church scene in Kingsmen The Secret Service.

"Something's not right," Xavier mumbled, looking tense. Technically, we all are, as far as I'm concerned everyone else was pretty chill a minute ago.

Now there were tables getting upturned and smashed, bottles and different items lying nearby where used as weapons and the happy-go-lucky customers in the bar are seriously beating each other to a pulp. It was a free-for-all, and everyone was as bloodthirsty as rabid animals.

"We should get back to the hotel," Char commented as Irene and Amy started gathering our things. All of our consoles were in the room, and no one was paranoid enough to bring their DS on the beach. Besides, even if we did the recent combat with the gore magala has left our batteries drained.

We all readied to get going, but then remembered…

"Indigo and Claire," I say, trying to remember the location of the area they went to. All I knew was it was west from our location, "I'll get them."

"Not on your own you ain't," Xavier said, "We'll catch up with you guys, get back to the hotel and hole up until this blows over."

Char nodded at him sternly, and led his group carefully away from the chaos.

Now, where in the specific hell did those two go?

* * *

All things considered, this is a nice view. Heck, I didn't even know there was a clothing optional area in the beach/resort we were in. Not much people, so Claire and I can just _chill_ in peace. Only thing missing is _Netflix_.

"Get it?" I ask after I retell my joke aloud to Claire. She looked like she was thinking it through carefully but was ultimately dumbfounded.

"No, sorry," She replies, laying down a towel so she could go for a full tan under the surprisingly painless sunlight. "Is this one of those pedo lingos Amy warned me about?"

"Nah, those jokes are worse and lamer," I waved off, trying not to stare at her too much. Suffice to say she had absolutely no concerns about her modesty, and even explained that she and her parents used to be naturists. That actually explains a lot.

I kept my shorts on, more embarrassed than the naked kid in front of me. I may be a confident douchebag, but body positivity was one of my weaker points.

"Take it slow," Claire says, an assuring and alluring smile on her face, "Learning to love yourself takes time, there's no need to rush it."

"Oh I love myself," I grin at her, "Just not how I look right now." It's not that I see myself as a disgusting pig or anything like that, I just simply feel like I have nothing to be proud of.

Oh well, I thought, that's a problem for another day. Claire's having fun, and for obvious reasons so was I. I ain't spoiling that with my emo edge-lord bullshit.

So I do what I do best and lie down next to the beautiful girl next to me, admiring every inch of her body like it was the last thing I was going to see before I die.

But I couldn't afford to just be quiet about this.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask Claire, who looked at me like there was nothing questionable with what we're doing.

"Huh?"

"This, thing we're doing," I motion my hands around, "You've been hanging out with me often, and you even agreed to go to a nude beach with me. You know what kind of guy I am."

"What's wrong with what we're doing?" She asks.

"What we're doing, right now, nothing. But who you're doing it with, me, that's just questionable. Are you toying with me or something? Is this one big elaborate practical joke to mess with the resident pedophile or something?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Claire replied, looking slightly pissed off, "Are you implying that I'm doing all this because of you? For you?"

"Yes! There's no way a kid would agree to go with me, take all her clothes off and lie down to sunbathe, and talk to me like I wasn't a gigantic red flag walking around with her. You _**do**_ understand what a pedophile is, right?" I took a deep breath, it wasn't that I was angry with her. I was scared, scared that this was just one big joke, that someone was just messing with me. Claire was too tolerant of me, and that troubles me.

"I'm not doing this **for** you!" Claire shouted, for once sounding angry. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second, "I wanted to do this, it's been a long long while since I could go to a beach where I could relax the way me and my family was used to. Now I don't know if this makes me a very stupid girl, but you were the only one I'm comfortable with."

"Why?"

"I…don't know."

Claire stood up and walked closer to the water, soaking her toes in the tide. She sat down and started burying her fingers in the sand, like some weird stress relief. "I really don't know. I'm sorry, I'm really bad with complicated questions."

I sat down next to her, buried my fingers in the same place she did, and held her hand. I wanted to be romantic but it just felt weird with all the sand sticking to our fingers. We took both our hands out and washed it off in the water.

"I'm not a good person," I tell her, trying to keep my eyes on her face. Images of desire flashed in my head and I forced myself to look away. "You can't begin to imagine the things I want to do with you."

"I don't believe that," Claire answered, looking straight at me. Her brow was wrinkled as if she was really focused into looking at me. Was she some kind of telepath and somehow reading my mind or something? "There's no way the guy who was fighting so hard to protect his friends could be as bad as you think."

She stood up and stood right in front of me, and whatever you call the part below her waist was right there near my face.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You said you wanted to do things, so I should be afraid of you or something. I don't believe you, so go ahead and try."

Ah, shit.

* * *

Finding Indigo and Claire would've been easy, but an angry bunch of people just came out of nowhere and started a brawl at exactly where we were. Xavier was able to pull me aside before I got involved in an all-out bloody mess.

People were beating each other up, with whatever they can find. It was only a matter of time before they see us and decide to fuck us up.

"Can you fight?" Xavier asked, tensing up as if he's preparing to fight as well.

"I have never been in a human fight my whole life," I answer, knowing for a damn fact that my only action packed experiences was as Rezamesu.

Some girl in a skimpy bikini took her top off and started strangling someone with it. Some other dude used his crocs as some kind of weapon. This would be funny if it weren't fucking terrifying right now, what with all these people having such bloodlust in their eyes. And…a dark glow?

There's a dark glow emanating from under their skin.

"Frenzy," was all I could mutter.

"What?" Xavier asked.

I thought it through, wondering how it could make sense but decided to just give out my theory anyway.

"These people are frenzied."

It was the only possible explanation, sudden powerful rage, the dark glow, the fact that we just fought against a Gore Magala hours ago?

"But how?" I ask no one in particular, "With the Gore Magala dead there should be no frenzy virus."

"Let's ask that to the researchers," Xavier says, pulling on my arm, "As soon as we get out of here alive."

I look up to see at least three angry dudes eyeing us. Now I know how it feels to be in a zombie movie.

And by god, it's bloody terrifying.

* * *

I'm sorry.

That was all I could say as I do what my body told me to do. The lack of surprise in Claire's eyes was…surprisingly comforting.

What I did was stand up and walk away.

"I'm sorry," I say, "I'll just get a glass of water."

And that's what I did. The nearby drinking fountain was nearby but felt like a mile away, I had to keep myself distracted with every step of the way otherwise my brain would betray me. I don't know why Claire did what she did, or why I didn't do a damn thing about it. Normally I'd exploit an opportunity as soon as it presents itself, and yet I just walked away. AS I walked towards the water fountain I could hear the nearby speakers playing Volcano by Damien Rice.

 _Don't throw yourself like that_

 _In front of me_

I always thought I'd be prepared for that moment. I mean, I had nothing to fear, it's not like I was forcing myself on her or anything.

 _I kissed your mouth and back_  
 _Is that all you need?_

But think about it, what if I could actually make this work? Wasn't this exactly what I have been praying for my entire life?

 _Don't drag my love around_

 _Volcanoes melt me down_

After getting to the drinking fountain, I looked back to see Claire just staring at me, and shrugged as she soaked herself waist deep in the water. I should cool off too, I thought, things got disturbingly heated back there.

 _What I am to you is not real_

Yeah, that's what I'll do, I'll get in the water with her and straighten things out. I don't know what that girl sees in me but at this point I might as well consider myself in love with her. Heck, she's probably the only chance I have for some romance.

 _What I am to you you do not need_

Assuming she wasn't just messing with me, although she doesn't look like the kind of kid who would risk her own body for a joke.

 _What I am to you_

 _Is not what you mean to me_

With a sigh, I wave the incident off my mind and drank some water to clear my head.

At least, that's what I hoped for, but instead I started palpitating and powerful throb was hammering in my head.

 _What I really need_  
 _Is what makes me bleed_

"What…the…fuck," I whisper through gritted teeth, my hands clenching on their own. My mind felt like it was being unraveled nerve by nerve, and my every inch of my body felt like it would burn up with every step.

 _And like a new disease_

 _She's still too young to treat_

The words from the music, the white noise all around me, the sunlight, the sand on my feet, the heat, the sticky moisture of drying water on my skin, all of it started mixing in my head like a violent concoction. A barrage of senses overpower me, as if my brain was threatening to shut itself down, until all I can think of is the song playing in my head. And I walk, and make my way to Claire.

 _Oh she's too young_

 _She's still too young_

As I make my way toward Claire, I see other people walking around with the same look in their eyes. I didn't know what was in that water, but by god I don't care.

 _She's still too young_

I have never felt so powerful in my life.

 _You do not need me_

And I'm ready to take what's mine.

Oh the things I will do to you.

* * *

 ** _-To Be Continued-_**


	15. Chapter 15: You Have Been Warned

**Chapter 15: You have been warned**

I don't know what I'll say to Indigo when he gets back, so I decided to stop thinking about it and just soak around by the shore. The water was relaxing and calming, reminding me of the time me and Mom and Dad used to spend back home.

Lying back down on the sand, I close my eyes and think of the times I spent together with my family, before it became just me and Grandma.

I couldn't, since something pulled my arm back violently and dragged me up. The sudden movement was barely painful, but was jarring enough that I couldn't understand what was going on for a while.

I see two guys standing in front of me, an enraged look etched on their faces.

"Hey," one of the guys said, "What's a blondie like you doing in a place like this?"

"Yeah," the other one said, "You foreigners always act like you're hot shit. This is our turf, you think you can just walk around skinny dipping like you own the place? We ought to teach you a lesson."

I couldn't say anything to them, but I knew that I needed to get out of here, fast.

I kick sand up and ran as soon as it hit their eyes.

"You bitch!" I hear from behind but didn't dare look back. I just kept running, hoping that I could outrun them or at least find a good place to hide. If I'm lucky, I'll make it to where the others are. Or at least maybe Indigo can find me before they can.

Before I could go to the main part of the beach, I noticed from a far that there were a lot of people beating each other up. There's no way I was going anywhere near that, so I looked for an empty cabin I could hide in and figure things out.

It took me a while to find one,and it was basically just a small wooden hut, but I was fairly confident that I was safe if I just hunkered down inside it. It looked like I had already lost the two bad guys after me, and no one else seems to be in the little wooden hut that I found.

 _Okay_ , I thought, _Now what? How do I find the others if every person in this place seems to be fighting each other for no reason?_

There has to be something I can do. Come on, calm down, what would Amy do?

I look around, and see someone approaching.

"Claire?" I heard Indigo's voice, seemingly rougher and deeper than usual. I heard Frank say that if Indigo ever talked in a deep serious tone, he was usually in his 'no-bullshit' mode. Her words, not mine.

I've never heard him talk like this before, and the timbre in his voice gave me goosebumps. It was almost like the air itself felt heavier as he got closer into the hut. Overcome by fear and caution, I decided not to answer back.

"I know you're here," Indigo says as he walks in, and as his body pulls into view I could see some kind of weird black smoke coming out of him. Was he possessed or something? Was everyone nearby possessed?

I'd like to think I just had a nightmare while taking a nap in the hotel room, but things feel a little too real to hope for that.

He locks his eyes on me, grinning in a way that seems to add further malice in his aura. This wasn't the Indigo that I knew. Sheer terror kept me in place, while deep inside I had hopes that he was just messing around.

The sounds of fighting outside seemed so far away, and it was like it was just the two of us in the world right now. The sound of the waves started weakening, and my body started shivering in the cold deafening silence that Indigo brought with him.

"I dunno what's going on," I struggled to stand up and say, "But you need to snap out of it, we need to find the others."

"We can do that later," Indigo smirked, lifting my chin up with his finger, "Let's have some fun first."

"I…I don't think we have the same definition of fun right now," I reply, and remembered something Amy taught me. I swung my leg up as high as possible, aiming for that vital area called the crotch and kicked it with all of my might.

"AUGHHHHH!" Indigo groaned and knelt down, and I ran past him as quickly as I could. "How did I not see that coming?!"

Before I could get out, the two bullies following me a while ago had already shown up outside, probably alerted with Indigo's noise. They saw me in an instant and ran straight into the hut.

With two people blocking the exit and Indigo right behind me, I was the exact definition of trapped right now.

"Leave us alone, jerk-offs," Indigo snapped at the two standing in front of me.

"Now, now, we got some score to settle with this girl," One of the guys said, "But don't worry, you're next."

"Or how about this," The other one butted in, "You share her with us, and we'll think of leaving you alone afterwards."

Indigo stared at them quietly, then said, "I don't like to share…"

Wait, this is good. If I can get them to fight, I might be able to sneak out in the chaos.

"…but I don't wanna be kicked in the balls again either. Hold her down and we can take turns."

Oh.

How does Amy say it again? Oh yeah.

Shit.

* * *

"CHARLIE!" I scream as I watch Charlie take a punch and fall down to the sandy ground. He could do nothing but cover his face as one of the guys started kicking him again and again while the others laughed. Before the others could join in I sprinted and threw myself on the one guy kicking Charlie and tackled him down.

Out of pure survival instinct I saw my own hands continuously rise up and pound down as I tried to beat the living shit out of this guy. Bits of blood sprayed at my face as I felt his nose break from my fist. He didn't seem to notice at all as he pushed me off and the wind was knocked out of my lungs.

"I'll get you, you cum-stained pork grind!" Charlie shouted as he shoulder tackled the enemy and dropped a nearby plastic cooler on his face.

The cooler looked heavily-filled as ice cubes spilled from the impact, making me wonder if Charlie could have killed the guy. He was definitely not moving.

The other two started running at us and we had to react fast.

"You take the girl, I'll take the other guy," He said, preparing what I can only assume as a martial arts stance.

"Dude, I don't wanna hit a girl," I reply, preparing my own basic orthodox boxing stance.

"Tell that to her then," Charlie replied as he led with a kick, pushing back the guy running at us.

The girl ran at me, so I side-stepped her and aimed a punch behind her knee, hoping to knock her off her feet. I felt my fist connect, but instead of her just dropping down to one knee she turned around and grabbed me by the neck.

Even as I feel the grip in my neck tighten, I noticed that her bikini top had come undone, unleashing what I can only assume were C-cup boobs. And as she stood up and lifted me of the ground with her choking skills, my only thought was to kick the biggest target I could find.

So I kicked her in the boobs.

And it worked, the sudden impact of my kick on her soft and jiggly parts hurt her enough to let go. I found a closed parasol lying on the ground next to me, and swung it as powerful as I can at her. The blow landed right on the side of head, and I watched her eyes roll up as she fell unconscious to the ground.

I catch my breath and watch Charlie rapidly and continuously punch the guy as fast as he can.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!" Charlie screamed gibberish as his punches keep coming and the guy he was fighting was practically knocked out. And with one final "ORA!", he delivered an uppercut that dropped his enemy to the ground.

"Wow," I say, trying to look away from the topless lady lying on the ground by my feet, "That went better than expected."

"Not bad for a small fry," Charlie said with a grin.

"Not bad for a weeb," I reply with my own grin.

And without thinking, Charlie gave me a high five but I misread and gave him a fist bump. And as his paper beat my rock we vowed never to do that again and continued our search for Indigo and Claire.

God, please let them be safe.

* * *

To say that I'm in trouble is a big understatement. I've got one guy holding my arms down, another one holding my legs, and Indigo was standing over me like some kind of predator who's finally cornered his prey.

"Don't be scared," He kneels down and whispers, his face dangerously close to mine. His breath was warm on my skin, but it only made me more uncomfortable. I had no choice, I need to take my chances on talking him out of this…madness.

"This isn't you," I mutter, the words struggling to leave my throat, "Please. You need to stop, the others…"

"I've wanted this for so long," He answers, our eyes drilling holes in each other, "This is who I am! Don't you understand that?"

"No! I don't believe that."

"Don't worry, you'll feel _way better_ soon," He grins, my words seemingly have no effect. But I refuse to give up. There's nothing else for me to do anyway.

"What happened to the guy who risked his life for me and my classmates? Huh?" I say, glaring at him with all the conviction I have left to muster. "Where's the Indigo who carried me away from a collapsing roller coaster? The guy who prioritizes the safety of his family over his own?"

"Stop." Was all he could say, but I can tell he's beginning to doubt himself.

"Whatever this…thing is turning you into, it's not who you really are. At least, not who you strive to be."

"I…I don't have anything else left. Isn't this what the world expects from me?!" He shouted, looking around like a panicking animal. The dark glow around him started pulsating, and even occasionally getting faded at times.

The real Indigo, he must be fighting back.

"Man, this bitch sure is loud," One of the guys said, "Hey, hurry up, I'm itchin' here."

"Ignore them," I continue, each word imbued with as much determination I could muster. I could feel it, I can get Indigo through this, out of the darkness. If I can be his anchor, then he can make it back and get us out of this predicament. "Think of your family, think of the Raptors. Frank, Amy, Char, Xavier, Yuri, Yuel, Charlie, …"

"Shut up!"

"They're all waiting for you. Where's the guy who secretly prayed to God to help everyone get back safely every time someone went on a mission? Where's the leader who tried to keep everyone else's life on track, even when he says that his is completely derailing?! Come on, Indigo!"

"Shut UP!"

"Where's the guy who smiled in front of certain defeat? The one who makes lame jokes while being chased by blood thirsty monsters? Where's the Monster Hunter who vowed to protect me and everyone he cares about? If Dirge was here, he'd be sad to see you like this. So come on, Indie!"

"Will you just fuck her and get this over with?" The other guy butted in.

"SHUT UP!"

Indigo screamed and swung his arm so fast I had to close my eyes, in fear of the wind from his swing hitting my face. For some reason, I thought I felt a bright glimmer as I opened my eyes.

I felt the grip on my arms disappear, and as I sat up and hear the fearful whimper of the other guy by my feet, I saw something I did not expect.

One of the guys had been slammed straight into the hut's wooden wall, nearly embedding him through the broken wood and splinters. He looked alive but his body was severely broken in different places, as if he was hit by some kind of hammer-like object.

If that was the case, does that mean Indigo turned into Dirge or something? Maybe a Monster Hunter would be immune from this virus-thingy.

My feet was freed and I saw the other guy looking terrified as he looks at the person standing before him.

It was Indigo, still Indigo, only without the dark aura surrounding him. And…

His right arm was covered in his rough-brown armor, like a tiger made from stone. And in his hand, was his smiley-designed musical hammer, or whatever it's called. He didn't seem to notice any of this as he glares at the other guy cowering in front of him.

"Why were you holding her legs open?" He asks as he walks closer to the other guy.

"Dude you told us to!"

He didn't seem to hear, as he swings his hammer and sends the guy flying with a loud SLAM! with his musical-hammer thing.

"That wasn't necessary…I think," I say as I inch closer to him, still cautious that he may suddenly attack me again.

"I dunno what I did, but I knew that I was affected with the Frenzy," He said, not even turning to look at me. "I know it was kind of my fault, but they tried to hurt you. They deserve worse than this."

Before I could say anything further, two more people arrived, looking like they just heard the commotion from Indigo's attack.

It was Charlie and Xavier.

"Okay,um," Xavier was struggling with his words, not knowing where to look. There were two guys slammed all broken into walls, I was standing here without any clothes on, and Indigo was wielding his music-hammer despite being mostly human. "I got nothing."

"How about, 'What the ungodly fuck just happened here?!'" Charlie said, taking off his shirt and handing it to me.

I thanked him and tried to explain what I could.

* * *

Even though I was worried for Charlie, Xavier, Indigo and Claire, I managed to keep us all together and somehow get to one of our hotel rooms without getting in trouble. People around us were going crazy, fighting each other, pissing wherever they want and basically going around with no mental limitations whatsoever.

"Hey Char," Frank called me over to her as we holed up in the room, showing me her cellphone. Someone had left a missed call with an unknown number.

"Highly unlikely for the others to call us," Irene speculated, "All our phones are in the room."

So who was it?

We didn't get to think much as a loud knock came from the door. The twins gasped and huddled with Irene as Frank, Amy and I came to check the door. I looked through the peeper or whatever that thing is called and saw…

The scientist guy, Aldritch was it? He was standing out the door looking haggard as hell, not that I can blame him considering the way people outside are. He doesn't look like he's in a mad, frenzy-like state of mind so I opened the door for him.

"Oh thank god you people are here!" He said, hurrying inside while wiping his sweat with a hankerchief. "Things have gotten a little out of hand, haven't they?"

"Is this your fault again?" Amy asked, arms crossed and eyebrows practically connected. "What did you do this time?"

Aldritch shook his head, "Nonono, technically not my fault. Or ours. Or anyone's."

"Get to it," I tell him.

"The Gore Magala, you cut off it's tail, yes?" He asked and we nodded. "Well, it seems that a bunch of us were mistaken about some things. The Magala wasn't as dead as we thought it was and is now in some kind of metamorphosis imago, so I had my men skeedadle out as quickly as possible. And we failed to notice where the tail went after you cut it."

"We can take care of the Magala once we regroup, what about the tail?" I ask, not specifically getting what he's saying, but trying my best to understand.

"It flew towards the dam, now this is all speculation but let's say it went into the dam and somehow the Frenzy virus spread through the water…"

Amy straightened up and butted in, "That means anyone drinking tap water nearby would be infected!"

"Yes. A theory as it is, but looks quite feasible right now." Aldritch answered.

That would explain why people just randomly started fighting each other, and since we've been having canned drinks the whole time, we were safe. Thank God for our unhealthy habits.

"Looks like Mountain Dew saved my life today," Amy said with a smirk.

Yuri raised his hand, and Aldritch let him talk.

"Um, if people get infected by the…uh…faucet water," He said, "How can we uninfect them?"

"That's a good question," Aldritch answered.

"So what's the answer?" Frank asked.

"Well," Aldritch replied, wiping his sweat some more, "I don't have any right now."

* * *

Indigo was disturbingly quiet during the rest of our walk back to the hotel. Even Claire was looking less cheerful than usual. Xavier was leading the way and probably all pumped up from the previous fight we had to go through but I just hope we can all get back safely.

"What did I do?" Indigo asked with a cold voice, looking blankly straight ahead.

Claire sighed, "Nothing, you didn't do anything, okay? Stop worrying about it, we can talk about this after we solve the bigger problem."

"You really think he didn't do the thing?" Xavier whispered to me, "You know? The thing that rhymes with grape?"

I shook my head, "I dunno mate, Claire seems pretty fine and not…sticky or anything like that."

"Dammit," Indigo muttered and walked faster than us.

I look at Xavier again, "Are you sure we got the right guy?"

Not to mention, when we found him, his arm was wearing an armor and wielding his hunting horn. It's disappeared now but this just implies that there's far more to our Hunter forms that we haven't found out yet.

"In any case, we need to worry about this bloody frenzy bullshit first," I tell them, "The researcher bloke might know something that could help."

"He better," Indigo said through gritted teeth.

We managed to make it into the hotel room without encountering any frenzied civilians, and before any of us can even explain what we went through Aldritch had gotten us back up to speed on the reality of the situation.

After he's explanation on how the frenzy was spread, it was our turn to tell our story. I had finished telling them of the awesome fight Xavier and I triumphantly went through, but before I could get to the part about finding Indigo with a Hunter arm and Claire completely naked and two dudes smashed straight into a wall, Claire stood in front of me and told the story herself.

"We were attacked by two frenzied guys," She said, fidgeting and crumpling the edges of her shirt with her hands, "Indigo protected by somehow making his Hunter's arm show up on his and slamming them with his musical hammer."

"Claire, what are you-" Indigo started to say, but Claire looked at him with such intensity in her eyes that he just shut up.

Amy seems to have noticed this, but said nothing except, "If you say so." Then she turned to Indigo, "So how did you pull it off? Your 3DS was way over here, synergizing with your hunter, even just an arm, is quite a feat."

"I honestly don't know, it felt like I was overcome with rage and hatred," Indigo replied, solemnly looking at his right arm.

"Hatred? Towards a monster? Towards the frenzied individuals attacking you and the child?" Aldritch asked, pushing his glasses up like an anime stereotype.

Indigo walked towards the fridge and took a canned soda, and before drinking it straight up all he said was, "Myself."

* * *

While everyone else was busy helping Aldritch think up ways to stop the Frenzy, and to an extent the Gore Magala that's apparently still alive, I saw my 'self-proclaimed best friend' walk towards Indigo. Indigo himself was sitting alone on a chair by the window, staring at his 3ds. As Claire approached him, he had a painful look in his eyes and looked away from her.

I slightly distanced myself from the group, knowing that it was beneath me to stick my nose in their business, but I cared enough about those two dumbasses that I was desperate to know what's making them act so weird.

"You didn't need to lie for me back there," Indigo said, his eyes locked on his 3ds.

"They don't need to know right now, cause they need you. You're the leader, you can't break apart right now. Whatever happened in the hut," Claire said, "Which was **nothing** , it wasn't your fault, that wasn't you."

"Well, it's technically a part of me," Indigo replied, closing the handheld console and looking at Claire, an act which seemed to hurt him, "I tried to… I…-Look, I may not remember the whole thing, but I can feel the desire and the snippets of memories come back to me."

He reached out, as if wanting to caress her face, but held back.

"The fact that I'm even capable of acting like that, shows that I'm no different from all those other rapists and molesters out there."

"You know that's not true."

"Did you truly believe that?" He asks, "Even as we held you down and I tried to… tried to hurt you?"

"Yes." Claire replied without thinking and with no hesitation whatsoever.

Indigo stopped, he just stopped, as if his some god just pressed the pause button on his reality. After a second that looked longer than it should,he looked away from her again.

What the hell happened between those two?

Indigo must've noticed me looking, 'cause I heard him tell Claire that "Amy's looking for you."

And as Claire walked towards me, I couldn't tell if she was angry or if she was about to cry. This was the first time I saw her without a smile.

I wanted to ask her what really happened, and what's happening now, but I figured this was something she has to worry about by herself or at the very least I really don't think I can help her anyway.

On the other hand, there is still some way for me to help. I walk towards Indigo with the best glare I can think of, surely he can feel that I was onto something, that I could to an extent deduce that something happened between him and Claire.

He looked like he was about to open his mouth but hesitated and just looked outside like some emo kid on a rainy day.

"Hey, if you wanna talk about it-" I began to say, but he looked back at me with blank eyes and I stopped.

"She should've listened to you, Amy," Indigo said solemnly, with no other implications but guilt, "She should've stayed away from me. I knew I was a ticking time bomb, a 50-50 lottery of life threatening bullshit. But when she paid attention to me, when she showed care and interest, I couldn't back off. I risked her safety for my own happiness."

"I think anybody would have done the same." Was all I could say, "No matter how righteous you act, everyone's a selfish asshole deep inside, you can't blame yourself for wanting that feeling."

"Why are you on my side now?"

"I'm not, I'm just trying to lighten you up," I reply, "Don't get me wrong, if I find out something happened between the two of you I will personally castrate you. All I'm saying is it would've been very hard to avoid this had anyone else been in either your or Claire's shoes."

He stands up and starts walking back to the group, then stops to look back at me. I can't believe I'll ever see the day to look at our self-proclaimed leader, the guy who doesn't care what other people think, look so broken.

"What do I do now?"

"You're asking me?" I try not to laugh at him, "You really put too much faith on children you know that?"

"Yeah,it's all I'm good at." He replies with a weak smile, "Heck, it's probably all I'm good for."

"Eitherway," I tell him, ready to hammer home my message, give him the real reason I'm talking to him right now, "You should probably stay away from Claire for now."

* * *

With our leader Indigo, our cheerleader Claire, and our genius-prodigy-sniper Amy ignoring our little brainstorming, I had no choice but to step up and get the ball rolling myself.

"Alright Char, what's the plan," Xavier asks, which was a surprise, he usually does whatever he wants without too much teamwork in mind.

"Well, um, let's see," I'm not very good at this yet, but I know a thing or two about strategy. I'll show em that I'm just as good, or heck even better, than Indigo with my tactical analysis. "That imago thing could turn into a Shagaru Magala any moment, so we better be prepared to fight that."

"And the virus?" Frank asks.

"Yeah," I affirm as I look at Aldritch, "What can we do about the spreading frenzy? How much time do we have before this breaks out of the city?"

"The virus spread through water, and cannot be transferred through any other means right now," Aldritch replied. "As long as no one else drinks the water we can limit the amount of people infected, as for the cure…"

"Can't you synthesize a cure from whatever you got from the Gore?" Amy said, almost surprising me as I didn't even see her walk in.

"There's not enough samples to create anything useful," Aldritch answered, "I'll need more samples before I can synthesize anything."

"Then we need to kill that thing ASAP," I tell everyone, wondering if we could kill an elder dragon as fast as we killed its weaker version beforehand, "Keep your guys ready, as soon as we kill the damn thing, or even if we just cut off parts, you go in and get samples. You make a cure and make it dispensable via the air or something."

"Tall order," Aldritch replied, fixing his glasses, "But we can do it."

I didn't bother to ask how, 'cause I couldn't afford any further headaches. If he can do it, and we actually pull this off, that's all that matters.

As for the combat preparations, there really wasn't much to change from the previous battle with the Gore. Under the assumption that everyone can fight our combat routine didn't need to change.

"Alright," I stood up as adjourned our meeting, saying some final words like a literal boss, "Let's try to not make things worse than they already are. We move out in 5 minutes."

* * *

"You sure your brother's gonna be fine?" I heard Char ask me as we double checked that our consoles have been charged. "I've never seen him look so…edgy before."

"I did," I reply, trying to avoid flashbacks filled with cringy teenager bullshit and My Chemical Romance induced emo phases, "But that was a long time ago and I find it unlikely that he'll regress to it right now."

We looked at Indigo and saw that he had been looking at us, probably heard us talking about him. He walked closer to us in a lazy way that looked pathetic while also weirdly threatening.

"Don't worry, I'll still fight," He says with a low, rough voice, "At the very least I'd like to kill the damn thing that awakened the demon inside me. It's all I got left."

I didn't react at all, which I find as the most effective way to react to Indigo's edgelord bullshit in the past. It worked as intended and he walked away, checking his 3DS.

Noticing that Claire was looking at us, I considered going over and talking to her about what really happened. But I wasn't an expert at these kind of things so I prioritized making sure that I'll get out alive at the end of this mission.

It was weird though, when it comes toward kids Indigo was always a happy-go-lucky kind of pervert. What happened between him and that kid that made him go full edgelord?

I shake the concerns out of my head, noting that I'll worry about it once he starts playing screamo music on the way home or something.

"Have you fought a Shagaru before?" Char asks, looking all geared up with his tiny but spacious backpack.

"Only in Low Rank," I reply, knowing that Xavier and the twins were helping me during those times. "But I don't have enough experience to be confident about fighting one."

"Just keep your distance, and stay with Amy so you could keep an eye out for each other," He replies, looking more responsible and reliable than usual. What is up with everyone today?

We all finished preparing and got ready to exit, with Char and Xavier leading the front line of the group. The kids and Aldritch were all in the middle with Irene and Charlie guarding the back. Indigo was walking slightly behind the group to 'make sure no motherfucker tries to flank us'.

I noticed Claire sigh and Amy crack a grin, but decided to overall ignore it and focused on the task at hand.

We just need to make it to the forest like before, except this time we've got bloodthirsty civilians that can attack us at any time.

Speaking of which, as if by some brutal coincidence, there was a group of people fighting one another by the city exit, meters away from the entrance to the mountain path we took before. They weren't giving two shits about us but Indigo ran straight at them, and without seemingly thinking, swung his hunting horn with an armored arm while remaining mostly himself.

Caught by surprise, the angry mob were wiped out instantly. Their unconscious, smashed bodies lay limp by the side of the road.

"They weren't doing anything to us," Claire commented with a cold glare at him.

"Acting first can be a crucial tactic," Indigo replied, equally cold, "Haven't I told you that I'm a big fan of blitzkriegs?"

"Eitherway," Char butted in, trying to diffuse a risky situation, "We can talk about all this later, let's just focus on the mission. Indigo, thank you for helping but please give us a heads up next time. Claire, your reaction is understandable but we can't risk anything right now."

Charlie elbowed me, whispering, "Wow, Char's being incredibly level headed today."

"Char is technically in a balance between being like Indigo and being like Xavier," I reply, not sure if that was the best way to put it, "He can go either way, and it's lucky for us that he's more of a strategic thinker today. Someone has to step up while my brother's bitching around, and it ain't gonna be me."

As I finished talking to Charlie, Char was about to give us the go signal when a powerful light shot up from the center of the forest.

"Shit," Xavier spat out, looking with both worry and enthusiasm at the beam of light, "looks like the Shagaru has woken up."

Just as he says that, a white mothlike creature flew up as the light faded away. Spreading it's wings in the air like Batman about to descend, it became clear to me that it was a dragon and not a moth. I haven't had much experience fighting it, but it's obvious that that was the Shagaru Magala.

After posing in mid-air, the Shagaru glided hastily towards the city, ready to wreak havoc.

Meanwhile, as the creature flew over us, a black mist started spreading out from the forest, blanketing the ground like a creeping monster.

"Guys," I shout at whoever's listening, "I think we should RUN!"

And we ran.

* * *

Right now, there are two ways to look at our situation. We were running away from the black mist, which I assume is 100% chock full of frenzy virus in it. At the same time, we were running towards the Shagaru Magala, which I also assume is 100% chock of full of frenzy virus as well.

Although, in theory, we should have at least 50% immunity from the virus when we transform into our hunter form.

IN. THEORY.

Otherwise, we'd all end up as crazy maniacal people fighting each other and probably become zombies in the long run.

But I won't think about that 50%, I need to be hopeful. Just the other day my biggest problem was how to connect with my students, surely this isn't much compared to that.

"You alright, miss Irene?" I heard Claire ask, looking back at me as she ran for her dear life. "You're smiling all of a sudden, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," I reply and direct my smile at her, "Just trying to be hopeful."

Claire smiled back at me and kept running, and as we ran back into the city we all tried to think of a way to fight the Shagaru without worrying about the black mist.

"I am NOT gonna have the monster in me awakened again," Indigo said, looking panicked and enraged. "Let's kill the Magala and maybe the frenzy mist stops."

"I don't think that's how it works," Aldritch replied, trying to keep his glasses from falling while running, "May I suggest using the black mist as a way to spread our own virus?"

We all nodded, knowing that right now it would be the best way to apply the antidote for the frenzy. The problem is, we need to kill the Shagaru or at least take off a limb or something, before they can even begin processing an antidote of sorts. Not to mention they still need to find a way to mix that antidote with the mist.

I told him my concerns just like that.

"Let **us** worry about that," He said with confidence, something he hasn't shown since we met, "You people focus on getting us those samples."

"Kk," Char replied with a thumbs up, acting as if we had a 100% chance of doing all of those with no issues. It looks like we're all being forced to be hopeful and just keep fighting on in this desperate situation.

"Take Claire with you!" Indigo told Aldritch and his team as they went back the hotel to hole up and make a safe zone from the mist. "Keep her safe, or I WILL kill you."

"So you still care, huh?" Claire grins as she goes back into the hotel.

With all the non-hunters back in the hotel, we all synced up with our hunter forms and ran straight for the Shagaru Magala.

* * *

It was safe to say that we weren't at our best right now. Besides what was currently going on with the frenzy virus and all that, it didn't change the fact that we had just fought the Gore Magala a few hours ago and we were still tired from fighting it. Not to mention, our consoles weren't all fully charged since we had to do all of this as hasty as possible.

And as if having some kind of venomous flair, the Shagaru Magala was standing menacingly on the empty highway road, as if it was waiting for us. The dim afternoon sky grew darker as we got closer to it, and the feeling of permeating dread grew stronger.

I was already synced up with Arachnid, but even with my armor on and my sniper bowgun at the ready I still felt a creeping sense of inferiority and fear. Not surprising, considering we're about to fight our first real life elder dragon.

"Feeling scared, Arachnid?" Yin snickered as he unsheathes his gunlance. Beside him, Yang was doing some warm-up stretches. How can these kids be so chill at a time like this? I pride myself as a calm and level-headed person, but even I have my limits.

"Of course not!" I reply irritably, "Why, are you?"

Yin and Yang both crossed their arms and nodded in agreement as Yin answered, "We are VERY scared, in fact, that's why we're doing everything we can to take the tension off."

"Yeah," Yang added, "You know what they say, do the scary thing first then just get scared afterwards!"

I don't remember that saying, but they do have a point.

Eitherway, we didn't have much time to be scared, as the Shagaru Magala noticed us as soon as we were a few meters near it.

"Remember guys, prioritize taking a limb off or at least the tail," Relena said, brandishing her Charge Blade's shield as she took point. Yin and Yang walked beside her, creating a 3-man shield vanguard. "Killing it won't mean a damn thing if Aldritch and his team can't make a cure in time for the frenzy virus."

"But curing the virus won't mean jack shit unless we kill it," Artemis said, her bow at the ready.

"Looks like we'll have to multitask, eh?" Rezamesu said with a grin, his hand gripping the handle of his gigantic knife/great sword.

All of a sudden we all felt a surge of power as we hear the rattling drums of Dirge's hunting horn.

"Let's get this over with already," He says, getting ready for another recital, "I don't want to get anywhere near that black mist."

Everyone nodded and rushed towards the enemy. The three shield wielders moved as fast as they could with the shields up, offering protection for me and Artemis as we begun shooting at the monster's legs.

Saber sprinted to the side, while Rezamesu ran opposite him, and Sokatoa went on a straight line. Their plans of a pincer attack practically failed as the Shagaru drew in its breath and shot out a powerful blast.

The blast landed on the ground, creating powerful explosions that slowly spread around the Magala's front.

"Saber, Rez!" Relena shouted as she threw herself in front of Sokatoa, pushing her aside and blocking the explosion with her shield, "GET OUT OF THERE!"

Rezamesu managed to block the explosion with his greatsword, was still thrown aback, falling on his ass but receiving minimal damage.

"Ah, shit," was all Saber could say as he side stepped the explosion, but still got hit by its spread. Our dual-blade wielder flew off and crashed at a nearby parked car with a violent bang. He stood up with wobbly knees, holding on the wrecked car for support, and checked if he still had all of his body parts. He still does, "That wasn't very pleasant, 0/10 do not recommend."

"Heal," Dirge said, playing another song that made us feel refreshed, "That song will be barely keep you alive unless you drink those pots."

"Thanks," Saber replied with a thumbs up, "Even when in a bad mood you're still a healer at heart, huh?"

"I will support you guys and keep you all alive," Dirge answers with barely any emotion in his voice, "My mood does not affect that."

Just as he finishes saying that, though, his hunter form started flickering, and we could almost see Indigo's figure blinking in and fading out inside Dirge.

"What the hell," He says, as he realizes that he's going back to normal, "Ohnononono, NO! NO! NO!"

He falls to his knees, no longer Dirge and back to Indigo.

"GODFUCKINGDAMMIT!" He screams as he hammers his fist on the ground.

"Stay back!" Relena tells him as we continue our onslaught on the elder dragon, "We'll take care of this!"

"It-it's like I can't stay synced," He mutters as he backs away slowly, "My hunter…Dirge won't accept me fully."

A problem for another day, I thought, as I took a shot, hoping to destroy its frontal leg. The less mobility it has, the better. I couldn't outright destroy it, but the Shagaru flinched and I could tell that its frontal left leg was beginning to break.

"Saber, Soka, left leg's looking weak!" I call out.

"It's tail is also getting vulnerable to my burning slashes," Rezamesu included.

Artemis ran to the side, readying another arrow, "I'll help Rez out, circling it now!"

Even though I could feel the lack of self confidence in her voice, her body didn't betray her and moved gracefully. Before the Shagaru could even notice her and turn around she dove forward and released an arrow in mid-air. The arrow flew straight to its target, piercing through and subsequently cutting off a small tip of the enemy's tail. With a proud hurrah, she ran back to my position to continue the ranged onslaught.

Looking more pissed off,the Shagaru shrieked in pain and flew up, hovering through the air with sinister intent.

"Everybody brace!" Relena screamed as she and the other blocking capable hunters blocked the roar of the Shagaru. Both Artemis and I were not as lucky as everyone else, and we had no choice but to kneel down, cower, and cover our ears as the loud war cry of the enemy shook us to the core.

As I was busy looking down and trying to regain my composition, I noticed a spark of bright light glowing from under our feet. It took me a while to realize that this was the random explosive pillars of light that was generated when the Shagaru got enraged.

The glow was right under our feet, and if we didn't move fast Artemis and I would get blasted point-blank.

Artemis didn't seem to notice, and all of a sudden it felt like a split-second slowed down into frame-by-frame as I will my body to move and get us out of the line of fire.

The light erupted, slowly, as if my eye could glimpse every millisecond of it. I reached out at Artemis as the light envelops us, and I could feel a painful warmth on every inch of my body.

"ARTEMIS! MOVE!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I collide with her, willing my body to move further and away from the danger zone.

Come on, we can do this, we can make it-

* * *

"ARTEMIS! MOVE!" I heard Arachnid cry out as a violently bright light erupted from under them. A powerful explosion accompanied the light as Artemis and Arachnid disappeared inside it.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" I heard Relena's voice, my voice, scream as I ran at the bright light, hoping that our two girls were safe.

I mean, it's not like that kind of attack would insta-kill a hunter right? This may be the real world but still, if they got hit they should still have some HP left, right?

Right?

I threw my charge blade/shield down as I sprinted towards where Artemis and Arachnid was.

As the pillar of light disappears, my heart was at my throat completely afraid of what I might or might not see.

I see two armored individuals lying on the ground, smoke billowing out of the cracks in their armor, parts of it glowing red from the heat. On some of the cracks, I noticed…

Blood, oozing out. Not too much, but enough to be worried. The explosion must have shattered the insides of their armor, causing the shrapnel to dig in their skin and cause bleeding.

"Fuck," one of them mutters, it was Arachnid, looking more wounded and damaged than Artemis. She must've been closer to the explosion's radius. "Fuck, this really hurts."

Artemis coughed violently as she sat up, "Am…Am I dead?"

"I don't think so…" Arachnid groaned painfully as she tried to stand up, and failed. "I don't think we'll be of any further use right now."

She's right, if they forced themselves further their wounds could worsen. I wondered if unsyncing back into their human bodies would cure them. Shouldn't you automatically unsync when you receive too much damage?

Artemis tried to turn back to human, but found that she couldn't. Looks like you need a small amount of energy to consciously unsync, meaning you can't do it if you're too hurt. In other words, if you're not careful, you could end up dying in your hunter form.

The very thought brought shivers to my spine, knowing that my family won't recognize my corpse if that happened, they'll never bury my body or even find it to begin with.

I shake the thought out of my head and reminded myself that we're all still alive, including the enemy.

"You guys, crawl to a safer location and try to heal up," I tell the two, knowing that we are now three people short for the fight. No more buffing,healing, and even stun damage from Dirge. No more pinpoint part breaking from our two gunners. From here on out we're all about raw power.

Not to mention, we still had to get the tail bit that was cut off, and kill this thing before the black mist catches up to us.

"Saber!" I shout at him and point at the tail bit, "You're the fastest, carry that thing and bring it to Aldritch in the hotel."

"Leave some for me," he says as he takes the tail and runs as fast as he can.

Alright, now all we gotta do is kill this thing.

"Our odds have decreased by a hefty 20%," Sokatoa noted, and noticed something again around her, "Make that 30%, the frenzied civilians must have noticed the light show. Some of them are heading to our location."

Ah, shit.

Ok, Char,Relena, think. We've got 1 team member out of commission, 2 critically wounded, a Shagaru Magala trying to kill us, and a bunch of other people that will also probably try to kill us.

How would Indigo or Dirge do it? He'll probably think up a stupidly effective plan that works without risking anyone but himself. I need to do better than that.

"Indigo says he's got a plan," Amy whispered through our comms, sounding hurt with every breath, "We can use the frenzied civilians as a way to keep the Magala occupied. Make them attack the dragon, enrage them and use them as additional militia, he says."

That crazy bastard, "No!" I reply loudly. "If we do that, innocent civilians would get hurt. That's not how we do things, remember?!"

Our top priority is to keep the non-hunters safe, then take out the monster to keep everyone else safe. Dammit, what is that guy thinking?

In any case, that a plans a no-go, and I need to think of something quick, before the frenzied people notice and attack us. Everyone else including the twins are now in full attack mode, trying to kill the enemy while keeping it distracted enough not to notice the civilians or our injured teammates.

Dammit, I'm going blank. Nothing's coming to mind.

"Sorry guys, my only plan right now is to kill that thing as fast as possible!" I tell everyone over comms, and they all responded that they understand and they'll do their best. I'm sorry I can't think fast enough under all this pressure.

But I can at least kick ass.

* * *

"What do we do now?" I ask Arachnid as we both sat on the ground behind some parked cars. I found that even speaking a little bit hurts my chest, making it harder to breathe for a few seconds. Every part of my body aches in pulses, and warm areas become burning infernos with every move. It felt like a large part of my health bar had been chopped off, and the small recoverable red bits were barely able to help.

"We should use some potions," Arachnid said, trying to open her inventory, grunting with every breath. "That should heal us up to be functional again. As soon as my body listens to me I'm getting back in the fight."

I try to open my inventory, even scrolling through my different items hurt. I found a mega potion and selected it, summoning the item into existence as a bottle of green juice drop on my hand. I raise the glass bottle and stir it a bit, watching the weird liquid swish and slosh around with small sparkles.

What the hell is this, Mountain Dew? I stuck my tongue out and tasted it a bit. It was slightly bitter with a hint of honey-like sweetness, probably because it has some. It reminded me of Matcha flavored milk tea for some reason, just more bitter.

I force my mouth open and drank up, swallowing with immense pain as my throat throbs and convulses, rejecting most of the drink as I lurch forward and vomit it out.

"Shit!" I groan, trying to wipe some gunk off my mouth, "Even drinking is hard, I could barely swallow the mega potion."

I guess healing won't be as easy or as entertaining as it was in the game.

"If I could just transform," Indigo said, gripping his fist like that Arthur the Aardvark meme, "I could use some lifepowders on you."

All of a sudden Arachnid started gagging and choking, she must've tried to drink some potions as well and forced it down. She coughed violently, with green liquid oozing out from her helmet where her mouth is.

"Fuck, that's rough," She said with a pained raspy voice, "But I got a lot in me, just gotta do it again."

I stopped and asked if she had any herbs instead, we could start small and eat them tidbit by tidbit.

"We don't have time," She replied to my suggestion, "I need to get back there right fucking now!"

"And get yourself killed in the process!?" I shouted back at her, despite how hard and painful it is to talk. "Aren't you supposed to be the smartest in the team?"

Indigo stood up with a far off look in his eye, catching both of our attention and shutting us up.

"You two are hurt, so stay down," He said, looking down on his open hand, before balling it into a fist, "I'm not injured, I can still fight. Maybe I can summon even just the Hunting Horn like I did before, even if it's just one arm…"

Before I could say anything, he ran off towards the frenzied people gathering near the team and started shouting and cursing to get their attention. He successfully got their attention and everyone ran at him like an angry mob running after a pedophile.

Oh.

Well, whatever, he managed to help the team but he's now pretty fucked unless he could summon his Hunting Horn. Let's hope he can at least run fast enough.

In the meantime, I need to slowly and carefully eat some herbs so I can heal up back to fighting condition.

Here's hoping my brother's still alive by that time.

* * *

Looks like Indigo's still the crazy tactician we all know and sort of tolerate. As I blame myself for being caught under pressure and failing to think up a decent plan, Indigo ran out with a half-decent plan and is now being chased by an angry and frenzied mob. At the very least, he managed to make things easier for us.

"Alright everyone," I order through the comms while loading up my charge blade phials, "Let's not waste this opportunity. Instead, let's go waste that Shagaru Magala and get this nightmare over with."

"Okay, bro bro," Yin and Yang replied, charging in with their gunlance and lance at the ready. "Or are you a sis right now?"

" _Ryokai!_ " Rezamesu answered back with a visible thumbs up even from afar. He swung his greatsword with a flair, making a blazing trail of fire around him. " _Zettai ni makenai!_ "

"Understood, I'll give my 200%," Sokatoa nodded, transforming her switch-axe into sword mode, brandishing it as energy courses through its blade, "Even though that's mathematically impossible."

Good, everyone's pumped up. We can do this, and I hope that Indigo and Saber aren't in big trouble right now. The team may not be complete to finish this fight against the Magala, but at least we're all doing what we can.

With the twins already leading the charge, I run behind them , telling Yin to launch me up with his shield like a crazy human-catapult. I already did it with Saber before, but I was the one doing the launching, now it's the other way around. I kept my charge blade in SnS mode to keep my mobility, ready to transform it in mid-air and slam my axe mode straight on the Magala's face.

Dirge may not be here, but I can stun enemies with my attacks too.

"Catapult is ready, sis-bro," Yin says as I run up to him. I jump up and push my legs with full force on his shield, confident that he can do it and launch me high up. "Upsy-daisy!" He says as I feel myself flying high and straight into the Shagaru Magala's face.

I scream my battle cry as I form my Charge Axe, hearing my "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" get the monster's attention as my phial attack sends it reeling back with pain. The glowing yellow orb planted itself on the Shagaru Magala's head and explodes brightly, that satisfying _**tsing**_ sound barraging it as the monster gets stunned.

"Now's our chance!" I shout as we lay on the enemy. Sokatoa and I combo-ed our phial burst attacks on its head, watching it the explosions break the Magala's face as the others try to finish the job.

While the monster struggled to get back to its senses,Rezamesu had cut its tail off completely, and Yin broke both wings with a well-placed wyvern's fire partnered with Yang's piercing lance attacks.

The Shagaru Magala got back up, broken but pissed off as hell. Even with its wings broken it still tried to fly up, falling down heavily as it struggled to take flight.

"Being grounded sucks, don't it?" Yang asked, brimming with confidence as he uses his lance to stab one of the Magala's foot and pin it on the ground. The enemy tried to attack him with the other foot, clawing at him in desperation, but Yin managed to get in front of him and block the attack in time.

"You know what sucks more than being grounded?" Yin chided, blasting the enemy right on the face with a gunlance shell, "Being _groun-dead_!"

I'm so proud of you little brother.

The Shagaru reeled back from the blast, but couldn't move much with its foot pinned down, leaving it wide open for Rez,Soka, and I to pulverize.

"Alright guys," I charged at the enemy with a simple battle cry, "LET'S END THIS!"

* * *

Things were going smoothly for me, all I had to do was run straight back to the hotel with the tip of the Shagaru's tail in my hands. Nothing has gotten in my way so far, and I'm only a minute away from the hotel. With the tail's tip being mostly the same as my arm's size and weight, carrying it wasn't much of a hassle either.

At this point I'm tempted to assume all the things that could go wrong, and although that's usually Frank's or Char's expertise, it simply runs in the family and I'm confident that I'm good at it and probably Indigo is as well. But I kept my head up and my mind as blank as possible, focusing on only one objective, one payload that I had to deliver.

As soon as I got to the hotel, I saw that some of the black mist had already started to penetrate its doors, the people inside beginning to lose their sanity. Aldritch hurriedly opened the door for me while wearing a gasmask, closing it as soon as he can and running back to the room after wrapping the tail in plastic.

Before he left, he told me that Claire was looking out the window and saw Indigo(not Dirge) running through the streets with an angry and frenzied mob right behind him.

So my new mission is to now search and rescue for Indigo, which is probably harder due to the fact that the people in the hotel's lobby had begun going frenzied, which means that I had to neutralize them first. Also, the black mist had started to seep some frenzy virus in me as well, so I had to fight it off before it starts to affect my hunter avatar completely.

With all these frenzied people for me to beat up, I can probably get the damage boost, and go back to the team and finish off the Shagaru like a badass. I'm sure Indigo can wait for a few minutes longer.

"So," I tell no one in particular as I clench my fist and ready my stance, slightly wondering if I should use my dual blades, "Who wants to go first?"

The bellhop and security guard rushed me first, with everyone else following like rabid zombies. Feeling no fear and some bit of excitement, I rush at them as well knowing that no amount of monster hunting will ever match this experience. I just have to make sure not to kill them or destroy their head, they're not undead.

Their flesh met my armored fist as the clang of metal and the squish of soft skin echo in the lobby, and I barely felt any pain as they tried to attack me. I shrugged off their barrage as if I was some kind of superhuman and knocked them out one by one, either by punching them on the face or throwing them across the room.

"Man, this is OP," I tell myself as I watch them fall down one by one from my sheer power, "I should try being a vigilante or something."

But that's a problem for another day, right now I need to make sure that Claire and Aldritch and his team are safe, then run out to look for Indigo. After the fight with the Gore and the Shagaru I can only hope that my hunter form stays on for a little bit longer.

* * *

"Saber just contacted me," I tell the team after hearing Saber through the comms, "He just delivered the tail and has secured Claire and the scientists. He's heading out to look for Indigo."

"Roger that sis bro," Yin answered while everyone else seconded the motion, "Now we're almost done!"

Knowing that we're almost through this nightmare gave us all a second wind, and we kept fighting despite the pain and fatigue that we felt. The black mist had almost caught up to us, but I could tell that the Shagaru was at its limit, all we had to do was keep pushing it closer to death.

The Magala forcefully pulled its arm from the ground, causing blood to gush out where Yang's lance had pierced it. It jumped back a few meters and heaved something in its throat.

"Everybody run," I shout out as loud as I can, even though we could clearly hear each other, "Explosive attacks incoming!"

As I predicted, the enemy blasted out a bright-purple explosion upon the ground, travelling further and exploding in increments as it got close to us. All of us with a blocking ability managed to cover our asses, while Sokatoa protected herself from the explosion with her own explosion to make them cancel each other out while knocking her back far enough to be safe.

Yin was the first to retaliate, since he barely received any recoil from blocking the attack, and slammed his straight on the enemy's face. Before the Magala could fire another explosive attack, Yin triggered his gunlance blast right on the head, making it flinch and buy us more time.

Everyone else followed up with their attacks. I told them to focus on the neck so we can finally behead it and end this thing for good. Rezamesu slashed at it first, causing an area of the Shagaru's neck to get burned up.

"That ought to ease things up," He commented with a grin, acting like some chef who just served his best dish, " _Itadakimasu!_ "

Not exactly the most ideal phrase, since we weren't about to eat, but we got the idea. Before the Magala could get its bearings back, Yang jumped up on its back and started mounting it. Instead of holding on with one hand and attacking with a hunting knife on the other, instead he just clamped his legs on its back and held his lance down with both hands, stabbing repeatedly in heavy piercing strikes.

The attack on its back was more than a discomfort for the Shagaru, but Sokatoa's attack up until now have been filled with exhaust phials, and they have finally taken effect. The Magala could hardly move and can only drool and pant in despair.

"Let's put it out of its misery," I tell Sokatoa as we watch the enemy fall on the ground from the mounting attacks.

We ran parallel to each other as we readied our phial overloads, going for a pincer attack that will ensure that we cut clean through its neck. I saw an opportunity to use one of my new mods for my charge blade and told Sokatoa to cut first.

Coating her switch sword with phial energy, she drove her blade through the enemy's neck, the overloaded phial's blast pulsing through the Magala's flesh as the meat on its neck softens further.

Hoping to god that my new mod works, I activated my Charge blade and pressed the button I installed, causing it to transform once again.

This was riskier, since there was more modification involved, like the sword's blade splitting in two to compliment the split edges of the shield. Both edges spread out, and their handles connect together to form a larger split handle.

Before I knew it, I was holding the new form of my Charge Blade, a gigantic scissor instead of an axe.

"This will either look silly or badass,' I mumble as I cut through the neck with my charge shears, my arms pressing both sides with as much force as possible to complete my enemy's painful beheading.

Finally, I felt the last inches of its flesh give way as I realized that I fully chopped off the Shagaru's head, and that the blood gushing out of its stumped neck has practically showered me. I stepped away from the gory remains as the sky opens up and the monsters's detached head convulsed in death.

Everyone of us gathered around the freshly beheaded corpse as the life drains out of its writhing body. With the return of sunlight, I felt my body get lighter and my muscles feel heavier, as I look around and noticed that we had all somehow transformed back all at the same time.

Yuri almost collapsed but Yuel caught him and carried him by the shoulder. "Did…did we do it?" He asks.

I just nodded.

And then I realized that the mist was still coming, it was still about to engulf us despite looking less thick and dark.

Before we could all panic, Claire and Aldritch stepped out of the middle of the mist, not wearing any protective gear. Behind them was Aldritch's team, spraying something in the air that caused the mist to look lighter and less malicious.

"Here's your antidote," He says proudly with arms crossed, "Dispersed in a way that will affect everyone in the city, through the mist itself!"

"Wow, you actually did it," Amy says, with Frank following behind. They look shaken and absolutely wasted, but it seems that the fatal wounds from hunter form didn't affect their human bodies. "I actually considered what dying would feel like."

"Didn't feel like you did," Frank replied, "I had to stop you from forcing your body to move and probably end up killing yourself, so you're welcome by the way."

As everyone else was busy with congratulations and just basically thanking whatever they want to thank for getting out alive, I walked over to Claire and asked her if she saw our wayward leader.

"I'm afraid not," she replied, shaking her head worriedly, "Saber said he'd look for him but they weren't back yet."

Just as she said those, I saw some kid walking to us from afar. It was probably Xavier.

I was right.

"I knew that child-sized guy walking here was you," I joked and he answered me with a middle finger.

"I found Indigo, and he told me to thank you guys for getting the job done without his help," He replied, "But before we could go back here he stopped by a nearby convenience store and told me to go ahead." Xavier pointed at the convenience store and I considered whether or not I should go talk to him.

Before I could move any further, Claire looked like she read my mind and sighed, "I'll do it."

"You really think you can say anything that will help him right now?" Amy commented, looking annoyed, "Leave him be, he's as stubborn as every other stupid adult out here."

"Hey!" Irene reacted.

Claire shrugged and ignored Amy, walking towards the convenience store with a strange sense of confidence.

"Welp, that's a mess that I don't wanna get involved in," Charlie said as he headed back to the hotel, "I'm gonna get some shut eye while the authorities worry about the bloody giant dragon corpse, just tell me when we're homeward bound."

My sentiments exactly. I followed Charlie and hoped that no one would blame us for the mayhem that happened here.

I could use some shut-eye myself.

* * *

The convenience store's doors opened with a chime, and as one luckily unscathed employee greeted me I briefly wondered if she was aware of all the crazy stuff that happened outside. The place was blasting some song I heard before, I think it was Beautiful by Take That.

 _Lay all the sinful down to rest_

 _May all our judgments be confessed_

I found Indigo sitting by a lone table, drinking what looked like chocolate drink on a bottle that looks like it should have an alcoholic drink inside.

 _We're all guilty now_

He looked so somber sitting there, drinking as if he was trying to get drunk. I approached him cautiously but I was determined to at least get his mojo back on track.

"In case you were wondering," He said without looking at me, "This is a mudshake, or basically chocolate vodka."

 _Drink for the crowd not for yourself_

' _Til someone hears your cry for help_

I sat on the stool in front of his table and realized I didn't really know what I wanted to say. The frenzy was neither our fault, and so was the end result of me almost getting…hurt.

 _Let's all take a bow_

"I screwed up big time," He says, finally looking at me with such a sorry looking face it was almost pathetic. I didn't know if I wanted to feel sorry for him or annoyed that he would let himself fall down like that. "I'm sorry."

 _I spent all my mind on making sense_

 _It made no difference in the end_

"I don't wanna talk about what happened," I replied, finally finding the words, "I wanna talk about what happens now."

 _This should've been so beautiful_

 _Should've been my proudest moment_

"What's the point?" He answered, "I'm clearly too much of a risk, I don't deserve to be near you, or Amy, or Yuri and Yuel. I'll just jeopardize the team-no, the family, that we found and swore to protect."

 _How to have and lose you all_

 _How to be a disappointment_

"So that's it?" I stood up and walked next to him, smelling a bit of alcohol in his breath, "You're just gonna give up on them?"

"What? No, I'm giving up on me." He says with a disturbing commitment in his voice, "I thought I've done it ages ago, that's why I can easily risk myself in combat. But when I met you, I thought I finally had a chance to redeem myself. To prove to the world that maybe, just maybe, I'm different from all those child abusing motherfuckers out there."

He chugged his choco-vodka and finished a bottle in one gulp.

"As usual," He continued, "I was brutally wrong."

 _Save your cheers and my applause_

 _I never was worth fighting for_

"Maybe I'm better off dead," Indigo scoffs and without knowing it my hand was already on his cheek and all I could feel was the sting on my palm and the surprised wide eyed look on his face. Memories of my father began to flood my mind and I had to fight it off along with the tears in my eyes.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!" Was all that came out of my mouth.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, telling myself that I was just overreacting and how I can still help him.

"They may not be here," I started talking again, "But everyone's waiting for you. They fought so hard to beat the monster as quickly as possible so they can help you, so you won't have to risk yourself anymore."

Indigo just stared at me, and opened another bottle of choco vodka.

"For someone who has a team with so many people," I continue, "For someone who sees that team as his family… you sure like to act as if you're doing this alone."

 _This should've been so beautiful_

I didn't notice it before, but he had tears streaming down his face. It didn't look like he noticed it either. This must be the second time that Indigo cried in front of me, maybe he really does care about me that much.

 _Been so beautiful_

"Come on," I console him as I wipe the tears on his cheeks, feeling more like his mom than anything else. I took his hand and we walked out of the store quietly. The clerk had nothing to say to us and just stared at us as if we we're lovers or something, I hope she doesn't call the police.

 _We could've been so beautiful tonight_

As we walked out, the sun seemed to shine directly on us, giving me a warm feeling that I haven't felt in a while. I breathe a sigh of relief as we were about to enter the hotel, knowing that soon we can all place this crazy nightmare behind us. I look at Indigo and saw comfort in his face instead of pain and self-hatred, and I tell him, "Shall we go?"

"Yeah," he replies, looking inside as if he could see all of our friends waiting for us,

"Let's go home."


	16. Chapter 16: Noisy Silence

Chapter16: Noisy Silence

After all the unpleasantness from the Gore and Shagaru Magala, it's nice to finally and actually lay back and relax for once. Although lay back wouldn't be very literal since I found myself in a quiet park dicking around with my twin brothers and Xavier.

The park itself was nearby and within the vicinity of our subdivision, with a wide playground beside it and a basketball court across the street. This is where we usually hung out when playing video games at home got boring and we wanted to play video games outside instead. In this case, we didn't play video games and just loitered around talking and moving unnecessarily.

Yuri and Yuel were practicing with the Yo-Yos Indigo bought them on their 9th birthday, trying their best to learn whatever tricks they saw on the internet. Yuri can already pull off a simple sleeper(?) trick but can't transition into a walk the dog yet, while Yuel just swings the toy around making everyone around him afraid for their lives. I swear I almost got a concussion the last time I got near him.

Xavier was here too, after getting dropped off by his dad at our house. Indigo was at work and Frank was busy working on a commission, and everyone else were busy with their own lives right now.

"My parents were kind enough to buy me my very first Gunpla model kit," Xavier spoke up, showing me a picture of his phone of a High Grade kit called Montero(not the car). "You're the family expert at these hobbies so I thought I'd get some tips."

Seeing him take an interest in something I'm FURIOUSLY passionate about brightened me up further, and I wanted to barrage him with building tips, painting and lining and cleaning and modifying methods, but I calmed myself down and moved us out of the way from a flying Yo-Yo.

After scolding Yuel for not being careful, I went back to Xavier.

"Good thing you asked me," I said, remembering that Gunpla building was one of the many hobbies I share with Indigo, "If you asked Indigo he'll tell you to run away from it as far as you can while you're still sane and not broke."

"But he's got more of those toys than you," He replied.

"They are NOT TOYS." I chided him, then continued, "They are high quality plastic model kits, and yes Indigo has more than me. That's why he'd tell you to avoid this poisonous hobby while you still can. But just like with Monster Hunter and Overwatch it looks like we've infected you with yet another unhealthy activity."

And with that, we spent most of the morning talking about stupid things like model kit building, video games we're playing recently, and whatever anime or movie was worth talking about. We tried our best to avoid whatever happened last time with the Magala and the frenzy and Indigo. As far as we're concerned he seems to have cheered up a bit on the way home, but still seems pretty somber and distant at times. At the same time, Claire seems to be more intent on keeping him company whenever she can, with Amy being verbally and loudly against it. All things considered I think the group is still fine as is, with Irene being friendlier and more comfortable with us lately.

There's still no news about the rumored Hunter Tournament or whatever that we've heard before, but our main objective remains the same: get better and find more team members, preferably wielding weapons we don't. By my estimate we would still need a Hammer, Longsword, Insect Glaive, and Sword and Shield team members.

"Oh, by the way dude," Xavier brought me back to reality after nudging me with an elbow, "There's a rumor that Capcom's gonna be releasing another MH game."

"Really?" I asked, wondering if it's still necessary after all that happened, "With monsters and hunters real, and the danger that they bring with them being very real, is this really a good idea?"

Yuri happened to be listening to us and butted in.

"Um, when you think about it," He says, "War is real, it's happening in other countries right? That doesn't stop games like Call of Duty or Battlefield or Counter Strike from releasing."

"Yeah," I pondered, "On a business perspective it might actually be a better idea to capitalize on the state of reality to sell a game, especially for those who want to be Hunters in real life but can't."

Yuel joined in, looking confused in a tangled mess of strings.

"What the heck are you guys talking about?"

* * *

Time was wasted and we had our fair share of conversations with the 'big boys'. Although I guess neither of them are that big, Xavier was almost our height while big brother was technically skinny(despite eating a lot), but you get the point. Most teenagers and high-schoolers scoff at kids like me and Yuel when we try to join their conversations in school.

And even though Yuel brought a Frisbee and asked to play around I still kept my ear tracked on Xavier and big brother.

"By the way, with Indigo going angsty with Claire and me taking things slow with Julie…" I heard Xavier say as I throw the Frisbee to Yuel, "How's your lovelife doing? Any of the girls from your harem-I meant class getting serious with you?"

"w-What? I don't have a harem," my big brother replied, looking both annoyed and flattered at the same time. Meanwhile Yuel had thrown back the Frisbee and I managed to catch it.

"Indigo used to say you have a lot of girl-friends in your class," Xavier continued, "And you're awfully close with some of them. You even play Overwatch and LoL with them right?"

"That doesn't mean I'm dating them!"

I decided to stoke the fire and shout at them, "He gave a teddy bear looking gundam to one of them!"

"Hey, that's a BeargGuy, not a Gundam…" He instantly answered before I could even close my mouth, "Wait, that doesn't mean anything either!"

We all laughed at him as he got all flustered, in his calm little way. The thing I notice about bigbrother is even when he's panicking or screaming like a high-pitched girl his body doesn't overreact too much making him look ironically calm.

While the two teens continued messing with each other, me and Yuel continued our game of throw the plastic plate.

"This one's what I'd like to call the **FAST CRASH!** " Yuel growled as he stretched, preparing what looks like a very powerful throw.

" 'El, don't you dare, last time you tried that you cut me on the forehead," I answered, partially fearing for my life. It was a small cut but was deep enough that it needed stitches. We were around 6 or 7 at the time, I hated him and didn't talk to him for 2 hours.

"I know you can take it, Riri," Yuel replied with a grin, "You're a monster hunter now, ain't ya?"

And without warning he threw the Frisbee with such strength and spin I felt like I was face to face with Captain America in battle. Out of instinct I threw my arms to protect my face but only felt the woosh of the Frisbee as it flew over my head and towards the far end of the park.

"Dang it, too strong," Yuel said as he headed towards where the Frisbee landed.

I followed and walked alongside him, "Were you aiming for my face?!"

The Frisbee had flown farther than we thought, and big brother Char told us not to go too far. The edge of the park was where the older kids hang out in, and in some areas, like the unnecessary and elevated wooden bridge, was a place where 'shady' people lurk.

Weirdly enough, the Frisbee had flown under the wooden bridge, where it hit two people making out. The couple scoffed at us and looked for another place to do their gross kissing ritual. Yuel and I looked at the Frisbee, the bridge's shadow covering it with ominous dimness.

"There's no one around, go get it," Yuel told me, taking a step back as if he was afraid of something. Honestly, so was I.

"Then you get it," I replied, my hands fumbling as I try to put them in my pockets. I realized too late that I was wearing jogging pants that didn't have any front pockets, so I probably looked like an idiot. "I mean, it's not like someone's gonna pop out around the corner and sell us drugs or something."

As I said that, something popped out of the corner.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!" I heard my voice blend surprisingly well with Yuel's as we screamed for our lives. My eyes were closed so I opened them with a creeping dread as to what was facing us right now.

Instead of a scruffy drug dealer, what faced us was…a cat.

Oh, thank god it was just a cat. I look closely at the kitty, its fur partially white with patches of black and brown everywhere except its head which was pure white. It looked at me with large, round, eyes that looked tame enough but still had a spark of cautious fierceness in them.

"Aww, look at you," Yuel smiled as he reached out to pet the stray cat. I wanted to stop him, tell him that he might get scratched, but I also know that he probably won't listen to me…and I also want to pet the cat so I might as well let him check if it's safe.

As Yuel's hand was about to reach the kitty's head, the cat moved forward and reached out with its head. This was a magical moment, I thought, as the cat not only allowed Yuel to pet it but enthusiastically rubbed its head on his hand.

It was magical, at least, until a deep manly voice not unlike Terry Crew's came out of the cat's mouth.

"Aw yeah, keep that fur massaged, kid," The large voice said, and had for a while I was certain that we were actually drugged and the voice must have been some kind of hallucination. Then the cat looked at me and said, "How bout'chu kid, you wanna feel this fine fur?"

The cat was definitely speaking. That's…

That's…

That's freaking awesome.

* * *

"Where'd those two run off to now?" Char said, looking more worried by the minute. He keeps closing his eyes and breathing in as if to calm down, but you could tell that he's practically panicking right now. "YURI! YUEL!"

He finally looked relieved as the twins showed up from under a nearby bridge, with Yuel carrying what looked like a stray cat in his arms.

"Put me down, kid, I don't like getting manhandled!" said a voice from…somewhere.

"Dude," I told Char as I watched the kids walk closer to us, "Is it just me or do you hear Terry Crews nearby?"

Char looked at me with the most confused face I've seen him have and said, "What?"

I could swear I heard a voice like that nearby. I mean, it can't be Terry Crews, obviously, but still.

"My feet need to feel the ground! Set me free!" The voice shouted, it was beginning to sound louder and closer.

I spun around, looking for the source of the voice. I could just ignore it but something in the voice sounded weird and unsettling. As if it wasn't human or something like that.

"We can't keep the cat," Char said as I tried to find the owner of the voice, "We've already got two dogs, and there's three of us. Having another mouth to feed is a financial liability."

Financial Liability huh, I bet he learned that word from Amy.

"Ain't no one keeping me!" The voice came out again, and this time I noticed it coming from the cat. "I've already got a partner and I consider myself very loyal."

Wait, did…did the cat just…

"Holy shit, it talked!" Char exclaimed, looking at the cat closer with bizarre curiosity. "This can only mean one thing…"

"Yeah, it's possessed," Yuel said then maid a cross with his fingers, "The power of Christ compels you! Unless you're an atheist, I guess."

The cat's face didn't move much, but it was obviously trying to raise an eyebrow if it had any.

Char shook his head and stopped Yuel from perfoming an excorcism on the cat, "It's a palico, or a felyne or something. Am I right?"

"Good to see someone can think rationally here," the cat answered, "The name's K-Wyatt, and my partner is waiting back for me on the bridge. Now put me down."

Yuri put K-Wyatt down, and he stood up on two legs as Yuri asks, "What kind of name is K-Wyatt anyway?"

Yeah, it sounds like some hippy rapper name or something.

"I don't know, buddy," K-Wyatt said, "My partner named me, and if you know what a Palico is I assume you had one as hunters. Don't tell me you didn't give your partners stupid names too?"

Char shrugged, "I just went with whatever the game randomized."

The cat had already begun walking towards the bridge where the twins came from a while ago, "Whatever man, in any case you should meet my buddy. You guys might have something in common."

Wait, does this mean what I think it means? If this is a real life Palico, then his 'partner' would most likely be a hunter. Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to our Palicos?

Without a second thought, we walked with K-Wyatt, wondering if his partner would be a hunter, and if he would be worthy enough to recruit into the team. The novelty and shock of a talking cat, let alone the fact that he sounded like a big burly dude, wore off in a disturbingly short amount of time. Oh well, considering everything we've been through so far, I guess a talking cat is not really that big a deal.

We found ourselves on a spacious area under the bridge, surprisingly clean from any litter and trash. Considering the country we live in and the people that live in it, that is practically a miracle.

"Huh," Yuri pondered aloud, "The bridge is a lot bigger than it looks from afar."

"Yeah," Yuel replied with a grin, "We can actually play down here when the sun is high up. It's got shade and space."

"And it's surprisingly clean," I contributed.

From the corner of my eye I noticed a bunch of blankets laid in a bulk on the ground. Upon closer inspection it turns out to be a guy sleeping under a bunch of blankets.

He's…a hobo?

"Hey kitty," I asked the talking cat and pointed at the hobo, "That wouldn't happen to be the guy you were talking about right?"

K-Wyatt perked up and pounced on the guy to wake him up. In less than a second he rolled out of his blanket, stood up, and spun around and used his blanket like a cloak. It kind of reminded me of Umaru-chan, you know that cute anime girl with some kind of orange comforter wrapped around her. I'm sure everyone else thought the same, especially Char since he's also quite an otaku.

"Huh," he commented, "You kinda look like Eraserhead from Hero Academia."

Well, we don't always share the same ideas I guess.

Regardless of who we saw, the dude in front of us had disheveled hair that reached down to his neck and a scruffy goatee on his chin. His eyes looked small and sleepy, but a closer look shows that he seems to be very vigilant and is watching us carefully. Even though I called him a hobo, his clothes and his blanket/cloak is considerably clean. Looking at his basic black long sleeves, skinny jeans and a fishing vest I don't think he's much of a hobo anymore.

He looks at us for a few more seconds, then raises a hand in a simple hi gesture. I waved back and so did the twins and Char.

"This here's my buddy, Noya Chiba," K-Wyatt says and Noya nodded. We all introduced ourselves accordingly.

"Um, Mr. Chiba?" Yuri asked.

"Please, call him Noya," K-Wyatt answered, which I found a little odd. Is the cat supposed to be his spokesperson or something?

"Oh," Yuri noted, "Okay Noya. Um…do you live here? Under the bridge and stuff?"

Noya shook his head, and K-Wyatt spoke up again, "We were just staying here temporarily, we're like vagabonds or nomads moving from place to place."

That seems to satisfy Yuri, but Char had other questions.

"I'll ask what's probably on everyone's mind," Char says and walks closer to Noya and K-Wyatt, "Are you a hunter? Cos if you have a palico, then you have to be a hunter, right?"

Noya looked uncomfortable with how close Char got to him, which was at least 4 feet in my assumption, and backed away a bit.

"Should I answer that?" K-Wyatt asks his friend, looking at him as if he needed permission. In my opinion, just the cat asking Noya that question pretty much answers our question. He has to be a hunter.

"Look, if it's a complicated situation you don't need to." Char said with a reassuring smile, with Yuri and Yuel nodding beside him.

Noya smiled back, and so did K-Wyatt as he talked, "It's not that complicated really. We've taken on our fair share of hunting quests on journey so far, and well, we've encountered unpleasant clients. So we're a bit on edge on letting people know that we hunt stuff."

K-Wyatt continued, as Noya starts packing up his other stuff into a mountain-climbing backpack, "So yes, he's a hunter and I'm his palico, but I can't ensure that we'll be able to take care of whatever mission you might have for us. Please hire someone else for your request."

I decided to join the conversation and spoke up, "It's not like that, we were actually looking for a hunter to recruit for our team. We, uh…know a bunch of hunters who's looking for extra help."

I figured it was best if I didn't say we were hunters outright, not until I'm sure we can trust them anyway.

Noya raised a hand and shook his head, with K-Wyatt explaining, "Sorry, guess he's not interested. I'm sure your guys are an ok bunch, but we'd rather keep moving and hunt only when necessary.

"So you're like a witcher, huh?" Yuel asked, which I didn't get since I haven't actually played the game and it seems neither did Char.

Yuri answered his big brother's confused look, "Witchers don't usually stay in one place, they move from town to town taking on requests and missions to hunt monsters and generally solve problems. As long as the pay's good of course."

"The latest one was a nice game, Indigo let us play in his PC," Yuel added and giggled, "There were a lot of boobies."

Wait, did he mean boobies in the game or in Indigo's PC? Well, since he said boobies it's most likely in the game.

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way," K-Wyatt nodded, "It's a lot easier for us when we're not rooted in one place, although we don't really get any boobies."

Char shrugged, but nodded at Noya, "I respect your decision, but tell you what. Why don't you stay in the area for a while and check out our hunters when they get a mission? You can join in or just watch, who knows, maybe you'll find a reason to join and stay."

Noya seemed to think about it, but looks unconvinced.

"You don't have a place to stay in yet do you?" Char asked.

"We usually just camp out wherever's allowed," K-Wyatt answered for his friend.

Yuri popped in the conversation, saying, "You can stay at our HQ! We've got someone who cooks delicious food. Everyday feels like you're eating at a restaurant."

Noya is starting to look convinced.

K-Wyatt put a paw on Noya's hand, "Well we could use some lodgings and food, but if you'd rather-"

Noya stopped the palico with a gentle gesture of his hand, shook his head, and pointed at Char. I guess that's a yes?

"Good!" K-Wyatt exclaimed and purred as Noya started petting him, "It'd be nice to sleep on a bed for once."

Despite sounding like a big dude, I kinda wanted to pet the palico too.

* * *

The Headquarters undergo a general cleaning every 2 weeks, and for the sake of discretion I didn't hire any cleaners or janitor or what not. So just like our own houses, the task falls to us to clean the place up every once in a while.

Just because I'm the daughter of a rich businessman, I'm confident to say that I'm not a spoiled brat. Cleaning is one of the chores I'm more than willing to help with, although it gets difficult since the HQ was spacious in its own right. Thankfully it was already summer vacation, and Charlie and Irene are here to help out.

"I must say," Irene spoke up as she helped wipe the furniture and floor clean. I've taken to calling her without the miss part because I find it awkward at times, "I didn't peg you for this kind of kid, Amy."

"A smart and responsible one?" I replied, "Well considering what students you had to suffer through I'm not surprised."

Irene laughed a bit so I asked what she was laughing at, "It's just that, for someone so adorable and pristine as you, you're quite the nihilist."

"That's the problem with being smart," I answer her with a grin, "You see the world for how it is."

"You should try seeing the world for what it could be," She answered my grin with her own.

I was about to get into full debate mode when we heard the door open. Frank went in looking kind of bored. As soon as she noticed us holding cleaning materials she started making her way back out.

"Oh no you don't!" I shout at her as Irene and I chase and block her way out, "We could use some help."

"Dammit," Frank replied with a pout, "I was hoping you guys would be playing something I can join in, I just finished a commission and had nothing to do back home. Forgot it was cleaning day today."

Irene went up to her with a broom, "Hey, cleaning can be a game if you look at it that way. By the way, how's your brother doing?"

"He's less…edgy now, if that's what you're worried about. A little closer to what we're all used to, though I noticed lately that his usual self-loathing spikes when he makes an accidental mistake."

I didn't quite get it, so I asked what she meant.

"Well, how do I put this, the other day he was spacing out and accidentally tripped on my laptop's power cord. He said something along the lines of 'Sorry for always fucking up' and walked away muttering to himself. I heard words like 'worthless' and 'piece of shit' a few times."

"That doesn't sound like an improvement at all," Irene noted.

"Eh, it's been rare lately. He's usually back to his happy-go-lucky, lame joker attitude." Frank said as she started sweeping the floor.

I see, well there's nothing I can do about that I guess. Not to mention Claire already gave him some kind of pep talk last time so I'll just leave him be. Oh wait, I know, "He didn't come with you? Maybe doing some chores like we are could help him."

"Nah," Frank replied, "Said he's gonna go over to Claire's. He's probably helping her and her grandma with the housework. I heard they have a small greenhouse."

That son of a bitch, "I told him to stay away from her, and vice versa."

Both of them shrugged, even Irene who you'd think would be a bit more concerned about one of her students hanging out with someone who clearly announces his pedophilia every chance he gets.

Ah whatever, I sigh, "Well if anything bad happens I already did what I could."

"He's going out and doing productive activities, and Claire's keeping herself busy too," Irene said, "That should be good."

"As long as he's not doing her," I smirked.

Irene smiled at me as she took out some of the trash, when she came back she said, "Regardless of how happy go lucky and aloof she acts, Claire's a clever girl. And I'm sure Indigo's not that stupid either. Their chances of doing something that could ruin their futures are less than 25%."

Ah well, nothing I can do about it I guess, although I find it weird that I would even bother caring about my 'friend'. If anything happens to her, she's at least partially at fault, and yet I feel…protective? Why should I give a shit about someone who just decided that we were close?

I didn't get to ponder much as the front door opens and Char, the twins, Xavier, and some dude with a cat walks in.

"Nice place," the cat says with a large, lively voice, "We should totally consider staying here."

Ok, I guess we're doing this now.

* * *

Judging by how fast he devoured the meal that Charlie served us, I assumed that Noya hasn't eaten 'real food' in a few days. K-Wyatt sat next to him eating just as much and just as fast, making it look exactly like a hunter and his palico eating meals before going out for a hunt. The only thing missing would be him standing up and striking a pose as the food takes effect.

"Psst,Char," I heard Amy call me , "Where'd you find these two?"

"Believe it or not," I reply as I eat some of Charlie's _pork menudo_ , noting how it seemed sweeter than usual so he must have used spaghetti sauce instead of tomato sauce. "Under a bridge in a park."

"What is he some kind of troll?" Amy grinned as she watches the two inquisitively, "The guy really doesn't talk huh?"

K-Wyatt butted in, "He may not talk, but he can sure as heck hear you."

Noya nodded with a troubled glare, guess he doesn't like it when people talk about him willy-nilly.

"Sorry about that," I tell him as we finish our food.

Irene and Charlie went out afterwards to buy groceries for the HQ, and Amy had to go back to check on some issues with her family's business, leaving me, Yuri, Yuel, Frank, and Xavier to hang out with Noya and his cat.

"I'm gonna go check on our site," Frank said as she opened her laptop.

Meanwhile Noya took his phone out and started charging at a nearby outlet, K-Wyatt spoke up and explained that Noya can use text to speech software to 'talk'.

"Like Stephen Hawki-" I was about to say when Yuri butted in.

"Like Lady Rainicorn?" He asks, and I just nodded, if I'm not mistaken it's that long furry unicorn thing from Adventure Time. I always make sure to watch cartoons with the twins so I could keep updated with what they're talking about, and to make sure they don't watch anything inappropriate of course. I remember when Indigo tried to make them watch South Park and Rick&Morty. Not yet, I say, probably in two years or something.

"Yeah, I guess like Lady Rainicorn," I tell my brother, and he smiles sweetly at me for the confirmation. Even though when I think about it Lady Rainicorn doesn't exactly use text to speech, she uses a translator.

"Cool."

K-Wyatt beamed at the comment, looking more proud than Noya himself as he seems slightly bummed that people are talking about his communication method. Noya picked up his phone to start typing, and an unnatural yet somewhat human sounding male voice came out of it. The voice itself wasn't too deep or too high, like a regular young adult Caucasian dude or something.

"{Sorry}, {I get nervous when people talk about me}," He 'says', looking at us with worried eyes as his phone talks for him.

"Me too, especially when they whisper and look at you and laugh," Frank commented, her eyes still glued to her laptop. "Good for you guys finding an even bigger nervous wreck than me."

"I wouldn't call him a nervous wreck, and neither are you," I replied, sitting next to Frank and checking the site myself, "Maybe a little anxious and sensitive, but you're getting over yours, so I'm sure he will too."

Frank shook her head, "You don't get over anxiety, at best you learn to live with it. I hate to use this comparison but it's barely different to how Indigo lives with his mental issue."

Xavier snickered, "Yeah, well look how that turned out for him."

I shrugged, and said, "It's all about balance, I guess. You go to either extremes you might lose sight of who you really are."

"{Who you really are, huh}" I heard Noya's phone say, then saw him get flustered and cover it, as if he didn't mean to say that. He shook his head at me, as if telling me not to mind him, so that's what I did.

Frank suddenly looked interested on her laptop, and my curiosity made me look at the monitor as well. Looks like we got a request.

"It was dated 2 days ago and was somehow wrongly placed in our spam folder," Frank noted, "I'll contact the requester and see if we're still needed."

"Wait, you're running a blog why do you have a spam folder?" Xavier asked but I told him to just leave it be.

I scanned the contents of the request, seems a small school in a nearby town is being terrorized by some kind of gigantic parrot that's been running around a nearby river. While there have been no attacks or damages, the monster occasionally wanders closer to the town and makes loud noises. The people are scared that it might end up calling more monsters to it if left alone for too long.

"A gigantic parrot?!" Frank exclaimed looking visibly confused. "I wouldn't really consider the Kut-Ku as a parrot."

"That's 'cause it ain't," Xavier said, "It could be a Qurupeco."

"A what?!" Frank replied still looking confused.

Oh that's right, she's only played MH4U so she wouldn't know what a Qurupeco is. If memory serves me right it should look more like a duck than a parrot,really, but it does have the ability to call and summon monsters so we definitely need to do something about that.

Yuri and Yuel look visibly excited, explaining how they never got far in playing MH3U since 4U came out as they were learning, and they ended up forgetting about the 'inferior' and 'brutally harder' game. So they never got to fight a Qurupeco, although they watched me and Indigo fight it before.

I looked over at Noya, who seemed enamored at the display cabinet at the corner of the room. Indigo and I set it up and put some of our old action figures in it, with some donation from the twins and Xavier.

Noya has a serious look in his face as he inspected each and every figure, as if some kind of art expert analyzing a painting. He jumped out of surprise when I talked to him again.

"You comin'?" I asked, wanting to put him and his palico to the test. Lately all the hunters that we've met were pretty good and most of them are now part of our team, "It's just a Qurupeco, but I'd like to see how you fight as a hunter."

"{Okay}," He replied, K-Wyatt smiles with excitement himself, "{But don't expect much from me.}{I'm not very useful}"

"Don't worry about it," Frank comforts him with a grin, "We're all useless ourselves anyway."

Ah.

* * *

I'm surprised to say that my crude 'We're all useless' joke managed to make Noya smile. Being a sarcastic smartass runs in the family, and I'm glad to see someone who seems to be very sensitive appreciate the joke. It was more or less a gamble, one I didn't think through, and looking back had he not found it funny I could've made his perception of us worse.

So thank god that worked, and that we now find ourselves meeting the requester in the school previously mentioned.

The requester or client or whatever you wanna call it happens to be a security guard at the school, and has told us that he started getting really worried when he saw the bird monster walking around nearby.

"I was worried that my request would be ignored or would go unnoticed," He said as I tell him that we were sent by the hunters to scout the situation and inquire with the client. "I thought you guys were the hunters at first, but you're too young to be fighting monsters. Still, I'm surprised to see you dealing with the inquiries and stuff."

"We're like interns," Char answers quickly, "And the hunters themselves are too busy to check each inquiry in person. They only come when absolutely necessary."

"And when the pay's good," I mumble, and Xavier snickered as he hears me. He raises his hand for a high five, which I was more than happy to give him.

Char looks back at us with a light scowl, as if telling us to quiet down, so we did. Wait, why am I even letting him boss me around? I'm older than him.

"So we have a deal then?" Char asks as he reaches out for a hand shake.

The security guard shakes his hand, "Yes sir. We'll deposit the payment on the bank account as soon as the threat is gone. The parents and other homeowners all pooled in for the payment. Please tell your hunters to finish the job as soon as possible."

We all exchanged pleasantries as Char promised that we'd look into it. He's lucky Amy wasn't here otherwise she'd tell him to at least get a 50% downpayment before actually doing the job, as she , Indigo and Charlie don't exactly like the idea of getting the whole payment only after the job is done.

It's funny when you think about it, here we are almost 2 years since the Raptor Brothers were an official hunting group, and yet we still haven't smoothed out the business side of our team. You'd think it'd be easier since we have a business/marketing major and a daughter of businessman, but I guess it's not really that easy.

Before I could distract myself further we found ourselves in a hiking trail just behind the school. A small creek courses through the side, giving off a subtle mossy smell to the area. Despite the slightly far off noise of civilization and schoolchildren in the distance, you can still hear the soft but distinct sound the smaller critters are making.

We look around, checking for a monster that should theoretically be easy to spot. With all this greenery, a brightly colored bird should be easy to spot, especially if it's as big as a tree. Even though I never fought a Qurupeco before, I googled it just to know what it looks like.

It didn't take long for us to find it, as Yuel tried his best not to shout as he pointed at a bright yellow-green duck drinking from the creek a few meters from us. Either it didn't notice us, or it simply doesn't care.

We all nodded at each other and Char huddled us together.

"Alright, guys," Char said in a whisper, "Let's think of a plan-"

"SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!" A shout rang through our ears as Saber emerged from our group, sprinting at the Qurupeco with his blades at the ready.

"Son of a…" Char said looking at our dual blade hunter with disbelief, "He just Leeroy Jenkin'd us!"

I synced with my hunter and took aim, nocking a regular arrow with all my might , "Guess we'll have to wing this…wait is that considered a pun?"

"Why?" Yuri asks as he transforms into Yin, his white armor glistening from the sunlight like some kind of paladin. He readies his shield and gunlance, "Is it because the monster is some kind of bird?"

Relena shows up with her charge blade and nods, "Yeah I guess that's a pun. Pun expertise just runs in the family I guess.", then runs off to help Saber.

I look behind to see Noya standing still, K-Wyatt tugging on his pants.

"Hey," the Palico said with a concerned look, "We should help them. Show them what we're made off."

Noya looked down and picked up his phone to type.

"{They all look so capable}", He says, "{They don't need my help.}{I'll just get in the way}"

Even though I can't know exactly what he's going through, all of a sudden Noya reminded me of myself. Back in the museum, I doubted my skills and was afraid that I'd just end up getting myself killed or hurt. I guess in his case he was afraid of being a burden to people, is that why he never stays in one place? So he can convince himself that he's not getting in anyone's way?

"Artemis!" Relena said through our comms, "Try putting down a trap arrow, we'll lure it there so Yin can blast it with a wyvern fire!"

I gave a simple roger as I scrolled through my inventory and converted a shock trap into an arrow, shooting into the ground to release the trap.

I need to talk some sense to Noya, either get him fighting or get him away. This whole place will be a battleground soon.

Look at me, acting like I have any authority to talk about mental bullshit when I'm barely stable myself. Oh well, time for my character development, for what it's worth.

* * *

With Relena pissed off behind me, I charged at the gigantic green bird in front of me, brandishing my dual blades as I go full demon mode. The Qurupeco took notice and shook its body as if to warm up, then it raised both wings as the red-orange-ish throat sac bloated up.

It raised its head and started some kind of ululating, my blades feeling the vibrations as I started slashing at its feet. I paid no heed to its noisy calls and demon danced the shit out of whatever part of its body I can hit.

"Saber get back!" I heard Relena's voice shout at me and by the time I looked at him I felt the monster's gigantic fan-like tail slam me sideways. Getting flung so suddenly was not a pleasant experience, especially when a hard mango tree gets in your path.

My lungs felt emptied as the wind gets knocked out of me, and it took me a couple of seconds to stand up. The tree, to my surprise, was still standing.

I started running back to the fight, watching as the bright colored duck sprinted at Yang. With a sudden stop it started pecking wildly at him, barely giving him time to dodge. Yang sidestepped the attack and countered with a couple of lance thrusts, trying to break the monster's face but too early to succeed just yet.

Before Relena could accompany Yang's onslaught of attacks the monster flew backwards, sending both brother's reeling from the gust of wind. While Yin slowly makes his way closer an arrow flies past them and strike the enemy by the forehead, causing it to flinch mid-air and fall down.

"Ooh!" Yang cheered at Artemis, who seemed more surprised than anyone else that her shot had hit critically, "Shutdown!"

I caught up to Relena and the twins in time to beat the shit out of the enemy together, something Indigo has dubbed an 'All-Out-Attack' though I don't know where he got that from. Meanwhile by my peripherals I noticed that Artemis was not joining in the beat down, but was instead talking to Noya.

"Look man," I overhear her talking to Noya in the comms, "I know this all seems so overwhelming and all that. And sometimes it feels like there are no good decisions to choose from. But we need you to decide right now, either you help us or get out here and keep yourself safe. Either way you'll make our job easier, so don't worry about it. "

Not bad, I note to myself, as Relena and I pressure the Peco with our attacks, trying to get it to walk into the shock trap we had previously prepared.

"Come on," I hear Relena whisper in gritted teeth, "Before the damn trap expires."

Our lady knight(who's actually a guy) charged forward with her shield in some kind of improvised shield bash, and followed up with an uppercut slash with his blade in hopes of making the enemy stagger backwards.

She failed, and I followed up with my own demon dance, making sure to dodge the multi-peck attack first, but the Qurupeco was sturdier than we'd hoped. The peck attack has actually made it farther from the trap at this point.

"Fuck it," Relena said, running to catch up to the monster as Yin and Yang keep it busy, "Just try to kill it, if it gets trapped then yay for us."

Meanwhile Artemis was still trying to get Noya to do _something,_ so we didn't exactly have ranged support right now. All things considered she's AFK. Well, this is just a Qurupeco anyway so we should be good with 4 blademasters right now.

Yin keeps his shield up and pokes a few shell blasts every once in a while, while Yang runs around the enemy with quicker pokes in hopes of breaking something.

Just as Relena and I finally caught up to the twins, the Qurupeco flew backwards again, blowing us except Yin down to our asses with strong wind. Yin just stood his ground with his shield up, not moving for fear of getting blown to the ground.

"Are you kidding me?!" I shout through the strong wind, pissed at how I can barely kick this monster's ass, not because its strong but because it just keeps running away. "Get back here and stop making me run after you!"

While mid-air, the Qurupeco heaved its throat and started spitting globs of god-knows-what at us. Green gooey orbs flew through the air as some of them splat on nearby trees, causing the bark to sizzle and burn.

I didn't notice that one of the acid balls were near me until it was a feet away from my face. To my surprise I got yanked back and the next thing I saw was Relena protecting me with her shield.

"I could've dodged that you know," I thank her the only way I know how.

"Whatever you say, man," She replies.

We watch as the other globs of acidic spit fly ahead of us, missing us while the others hit our shield. It took me a while to realize that one of the spit orbs was flying straight at Artemis.

She was busy talking some sense into Noya, and all I could do was shout

"WATCH OUT!"

But I may be too late.

* * *

I was busy telling Noya something about moving the body despite what the mind says or some bullshit I learned from my brother. He used to tell me something like that, about how when your brain and your heart are too afraid to move, move anyway. Even in the smallest way, if you can't run you walk, if you can't walk you crawl, as long as you move in one way or another you could eventually force your body to keep moving.

I don't really know how applicable that topic was in getting Noya to help us, but I thought it was a good thing to talk about anyway.

One of my problems, though, is that I'm bad at mental multi-tasking. It came to a point that often times when I was checking my facebook or twitter or even when I'm just typing in a chat, I tend to shut off from the outside world. It would take Indigo's booming voice shouting at me for me to realize that someone was talking to me.

So I guess I lost track of the fight while I was trying to pep talk Noya, and it took Saber shouting "WATCH OUT!" for me to realize that I was about to get hit by some weird spit looking thing.

For some reason my legs wouldn't move, and in the split second that I had I remembered the whole 'just move something' philosophy I was talking about. I forced my arms to cover my face, as useless as that might end up being.

I close my eyes, waiting for the dreadful feeling of acid melting through my armor and then my skin. I could almost hear the sizzle as I wait for my flesh to singe and break apart from the attack. My only solace was that it can't possibly be as painful as being nearly burned alive and blown to smithereens from the Shagaru Magala's attack from before.

To my surprise, but certainly not to my disappointment, the acid never hit me. What hit me instead was a person as I get tackled to the ground. Upon opening my eyes I see a very perplexed Noya as he makes sure that I was ok.

He stands up and looks like he's panicking, his eyes scanning me for injuries. His face was filled with emotion, mostly concern and guilt, and at that moment even without talking it was like I knew exactly what he was saying.

 _I'm sorry, you almost got hurt because of me._

 _This is all my fault._

I could almost read him from those expressions, like all of a sudden there was nothing else in his head and heart but those emotions and thoughts.

I stood up quickly and put my hands on his shoulders, he winced but didn't shake them off.

"Heyheyheyheyhey," I tried to calm him down, talking as gently but quickly as possible. "It's not your fault, heck you saved me!"

Noya's eyes were still looking down, still showing discomfort and fear from the situation. K-Wyatt was quietly holding on the hem of his shirt. Noya made a small nod as he hears my words.

"No one could've seen that coming, ok? None of us did, but you reacted quickly." I continue talking to him as calmly as possible, hoping that the rest of the team was keeping the enemy busy. "You shoved me out of the way and into safety. You did good."

His eyes looked at me with compliance, as if asking _Really? I did good?_

I nodded and smiled at him, "I'm glad to have you watching my back. But I need you to decide now okay?"

He nodded as well and looked more calm and composed. He looks at the cat and gives him an agreeable smile.

"Oh? Are we gonna do it?" Wyatt asked, his body perking up with excitement, "Are we joining the party?"

Noya nods again, and typed something in his phone, "{I'll do my best. I'm gonna do good again}"

And as those words leave his phone's speaker, Noya took his 3ds out.

* * *

"Hello?" An unfamiliar male's voice spoke through our comms, "Can anybody hear me?"

We all instinctively looked back at Artemis and Noya, and just as I expected she was able to make him sync with his hunter. Yin, Yang, and Saber all say their version of 'whoa' and 'hell yes' as we take in the sight of another hunter in the fight. Noya was now in his hunter form, clad in green samurai-like armor, with Saber saying that it was the Tetsucabra Z armor set.

His face was covered with a white cowl of a helmet, complete with an evil looking face reminiscent of an ink-blot design. Yellow spikes adorned different parts of his body with the most prominent being on his shoulders and forehead.

On his back was what looked like a giant wooden paddle with writings on it, something Saber assumed could be some kind of Dragonwood long sword. Beside him was K-Wyatt, looking funky with a big and spiky orange afro on his head and some kind of thick round armor on his torso.

"We hear you, buddy," I replied, unusually proud that my hunter(Relena) was not the only one right now with a green colored armor set. "How are you-"

"It's…um, my hunter's voice, I think," the hunter replied, "his name is Noy-Z, by the way."

Artemis put a hand on his shoulder and said, "No need for the third person POV, you and your hunter are one and the same."

Noy-Z seems to think this over for a second, and nodded, "Okay. I'm Noy-Z. Sorry if that sounds stupid, I got the name thinking that-"

"We can talk later," Saber cut him off as he fought the giant parrot duck again, "Let's kill this thing first!"

It's kind of weird hearing this timid voice coming from that menacing green samurai, but hey if he can handle his own in combat I won't have any complaints.

"I second that motion!" K-Wyatt shouts as he pounces at my shield, using it as some kind of springboard, and throws a boomerang at the enemy in mid-air.

Me and the twins charged at the enemy as well, and as I look back Artemis was shooting her arrows while Noy-Z was… walking. Slowly.

Take your time buddy, I thought as I block a triple peck attack while Yang counters with a piercing lance attack.

I felt a weight on my back as I see Saber use me as a stepping stone to launch himself in the air. Spinning wildly like some kind of demonically possessed fidget spinner, he dives down the enemy in a flurry of blades.

This causes the Qurupeco to flinch and take a step back, it's lush-green feathers beginning to mix with droplets of its own blood, making it look more and more like a messy rabid bird.

Instead of going for a counter attack, it jumped to its left, clicking the stone-like things on its talons.

"Shoot it!" Saber shouted at Artemis, who was trying her best but somewhat missing, " Before he buffs himself or calls another monster."

It then jumped to its right as an arrow whizzes past it, clicking its 'flints' again like some kind of weird dance routine.

"I can't focus when you're shouting at me!," Artemis shouted back, and proceeded to continually miss every arrow she shot. She was having a hard time hitting the dancing enemy.

The enemy lowered its wings and drew its breath heavily, its bulbous throat sac looking like it's about to pop.

Artemis managed to hit one arrow straight at the enemy's foot as it finally stayed still, but that wasn't enough to make it flinch.

The Qurupeco finished it's 'performace, as visibly green sound waves flow out of its beak. How we can see the sound waves I will never understand, but then again we're fighting a creature that supposed to exist only in a video game. Thankfully, since the song didn't sound like any other monster's noise,that meant it didn't call for backup.

What that meant on the other hand, is that it probably buffed or heal itself, similar to what hunting horn users do. Of all the days that we didn't have Indigo and Dirge to counter-buff us. Wait, how about the palico?

"Sorry, dude, I got no horns," He replied after I asked if he could heal or buff us.

"Too bad," Saber replied, "'Cause I need healing."

Considering how the Qurupeco looks less worn down and how the sound wave I saw was green, it probably healed itself or something to that extent.

I prepared myself for a slightly longer fight than expected, as I see Noy-Z walk pask me calmly and quietly. Partner that with his oni-samurai designed armor, and he looks like some kind of ghost haunting the woods we were in.

The Qurupeco hops back just as our samurai got close to him, flapping its wings and blowing a strong gust of wind our way. The twins and I managed to shield ourselves while Saber took cover behind me.

Noy-Z on the other hand, was smack dab in the middle of the gust of wind. What surprised us, however, was how he just kept walking like some bad-ass anime character as the wind causes chaos around him. Staying unfazed, he keeps inching closer to the Qurupeco, which has now taken flight in front of him.

The Qurupeco charged straight at him, flying violently through the air like some kind of multicolored airplane doing a crash landing.

Noy-Z stood still as the Qurupeco passed straight through him, hitting absolutely nothing.

Wait, what?

Did I just see that right, I looked at the others and asked, "Did that guy just PHASE through the Qurupeco?!"

Man, I had a lot of chocolate wafer sticks this morning but there's no way that would've made me high enough to hallucinate.

"No, he didn't," Saber replied, as we watch the Qurupeco turn around in visible confusion as well as to what happened. "He sidestepped at the exact moment the attack would've hit him. If this was a video game, I'd say he moved his hitbox just at the edge of the monster's hitbox."

Before the Qurupeco could launch another counter attack, a boomerang the size of a baby slammed on its face, stunning the monster instantly.

"Don't forget about me, Polly," K-Wyatt smirks, throwing a couple more boomerangs, "Here, have some crackers!"

As I tried to wrap my mind around what Saber just said, I look back to see that Noy-Z was nowhere to be found. I heard his hunter's voice as we all look up to see that he had climbed a tree and was about to jump down straight at the enemy.

"Surprise, mother ducker!" He shouted and we were all tempted to facepalm ourselves. He dives down with his wooden long sword still in its sheath, and as he lands besides the monster the sword was already out of the sheath and the Qurupeco had already been cut. A large gash showed on its back as monster blood splurts out of it, spraying on Noy-Z's armor in gory fashion.

"Leave some for me!" Saber shouted as he joined back the fray, and Yang followed. Yin, Artemis and I stood together in a state of confused awe.

Noy-Z stands up, the blood splattered on his scowling helmet face, making him look like a samurai themed slasher in a horror movie. Saber follows up and keeps the enemy busy with his flurry of dual sword attacks.

Just like that, our samurai just took back more than what the Qurupeco healed itself with. And in such an effortless performance too.

"What…what just happened?" Artemis asks as neither Yin nor I answered. We just shrugged and watched as Saber and Noy-Z dance around the monster, slashing it quickly and furiously. Dammit, I should've said fast and furiously.

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DIE YOU STUPID CUNT!" Saber roared as he slid under the Qurupeco and dug his blades deep in its stomach, cutting it open until its guts spilled out.

Saber stands up caked in blood and gory bits, "Heh. Maybe next time I'll sing some Pink Guy while hunting."

Oh so that's where he got that, I thought Charlie had started mentoring him in how to swear. Wait-

"No singing," I told him as we walk towards the now dead body of the Qurupeco.

"Hey, you got to sing when we were hunting a Deviljho," Saber replies.

"Look how that turned out," I answer as I took out my hunting knife and started carving.

Meanwhile, I hear Yin and Yang as they get right in Noy-Z's face, "Oh that was so cool!", Yang said excitably.

"Yeah! You were like a ninja, but also a samurai!" Yin followed up.

Saber got in between them and said, "So how about that finishing move I did, pretty cool too huh?"

The twins ignored him as they start asking how Noy-Z did his effortless dodge a while ago.

"Tsk," Saber mutters as he crouches next to me and started carving, "They're easily impressed."

I snicker at him and ask, "Can you do what he did, though?"

"I don't need to, I'm a berserker!" He boasts, "My job is to attack relentlessly, make the enemy either flinch or die before it can attack me. Noy-Z is reactive, I'm PRO-active."

Whatever you say man, I comfort his ego as we finished up and prepared to head back.

* * *

"I didn't get to fight much," K-Wyatt says as he lays belly down on Noya's head, patting his front paws on Noya's cheeks. "Did you really have to walk so slow?"

Noya smiled as he types, "{I was scared}, {Every step was a challenge}."

"You'll get used to it," Frank says as she puts a hand on his shoulder. In a split second, Franks reaches up and moves her hand to pet K-Wyatt. "Oh, that's good shit," she says with a grin as she buries her hand in the Palico's fur.

"Aww yeah, keep that fur well brushed," K-Wyatt purred

"{Thank you for giving me a chance}," Noya says as he looks at me. "{You were all so awesome out there}."

"Don't mention it," I reply, feeling a sense of accomplishment as a pseudo-leader. I think I did okay back there. I turn to him and stuck out my hand, "So…are you in?"

Noya looks at me and looks down, possibly pondering his thoughts. Besides clearly needing a home and friends to look after him, I can see his combat potential once he becomes more confident in his clearly superior skills.

He smiles again and mouths a silent thank you at me. As he shakes my hand, I made a personal vow to make sure that he doesn't regret his decision. This man is a lone wolf, despite having a cat, and a whole group of people like the Raptors would be a big step out of his comfort zone.

Wow, is this what it feels like to be a leader? This weird sense of accomplishment toward people, and this scarily heavy weight of responsibility? No wonder Indigo was always off and aloof, probably feeling as if he had to carry this all by himself.

"You won't regret this," I tell Noya as we walked back toward the quest giver. He nodded a simple, but determined nod.

Right then and there, I can see in his eyes that he believed me.

-l-i-n-e-

[Frank's notes on Noya Chiba]

 **Noya's Character:**

Name: Noy-Z (apparently a pun on Noisy)

Gender in-game: Male

Weapon: Longsword (Dragonwood Godblade)

Armor Set: Tetsucabra Z

Preferred Role: Defensive DPS

Personal Skills:

Serenity(passive) - Keeping the heartrate slow activates Serenity. When activated, status effects and knockback effects are negated. Staying still during Serenity increases reflexes and reaction time, allowing for split second dodging that doesn't consume stamina.

Bide your Time(passive) - Weapon damage is increased for every second it stays sheathed before attacking. Draw attacks are dealt with maximum sharpness.

[End of notes]


End file.
